Back From the Dead
by charley07
Summary: It's been 10 years since Jude has spoken to almost anyone from G-Major because everyone has left or relocated. It's been 15 years since she last saw or heard from Tommy. When everyone gets together for Darius' birthday, sparks fly and chemistry returns.
1. Prologue

**So, I know I shouldn't be starting a new story since I have **_Model Behavior_ **going right now, but this idea came to me as I was looking at a wedding invitation, so I ran with it. Plus, I finally realized what I've been told in that I've been lacking in the Jommy department lately, so I'm trying to make up for it. I usually start a story with intentions of making it a Jommy, but as soon as Nic and Spiederman are introduced, I focus on them. This time, however, it will be 70-percent Jommy and 30-percent other storylines. This is just a sort of prelude as to what's going to come in the story, but I think people will be surprised how the last 15 years of everyone at G-Major's lives have played out.**_  
_

_Mrs. Portia Mills-Alexander _

_and _

_Miss Maya Mills_

_request the honor of your presence _

_at the week-long 50th birthday celebration of_

_Darius Mills_

_Starting Sunday, July 14 and ending Saturday, July 20 of 2022._

_Southampton, New York._

_Please RSVP to Portia by no later than June 13, 2007 to make accommodations._

_ We hope to see you there._


	2. Chapter 1

**New story! Okay, so Darius never gave up G-Major and none of that car-drama ever happened, but the rest of season three did, including the Hunter/Angie ordeal. Anyways, this is the first chapter and then the next chapter will kind of dive right into the party. Thanks to everyone who has already reviewed with interest cause that inspired me to get this written in one day. You guys are awesome.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

"I don't know, Jamie," Jude Harrison admitted as she spoke on the phone while writing in her music journal. "Fifteen years is a long time and I just think it will be weird to see him."

Jamie Andrews sighed and put his feet up on his desk. "Fine, let's forget about Tommy for a minute. You haven't seen anyone but me, Sadie, and Kwest in ten years, Jude. Don't you miss the SME boys? I mean, are you or are you not interested in finding out how Spiederman managed to marry Nic Quincy, of all people, six years ago without being murdered?"

"I guess," Jude laughed softly. "But the last time I even spoke to him was at my wedding when I was 23 and he left Toronto for LA with Karma and the boys. Spiederman abandoned me, Jamie, and I still haven't forgiven him for that."

"I know," he said quietly. "But it's time to, Jude. You owe it to Avery to meet all the people who were so influential to your career."

"Avery's nine," Jude pointed out. "She doesn't need to know people I rarely, if ever, mention."

Jamie's phone beeped. "I have another call, so I have to go. But Jude, come with us. You're been isolated from everyone for too long."

Jude hung up and looked at the pristine invitation on her coffee table. She, along with her daughter, Avery, had been invited to the weeklong 50th birthday celebration of Darius Mills at his Southampton estate. In her late teens and early 20's, Darius had skyrocketed her career to five multi-platinum albums and three Grammy's as the president of her label, G-Major, and also as her manager. Then, when she'd married Tyler Cooper, a medical student at York University, when she was barely 23, the rest of her life fell apart. Darius, along with his sister, Portia, and four-year-old daughter, Maya, moved to New York to relocate G-Major's headquarters, leaving Jamie, Jude's longtime best friend, in charge of the Toronto studio. Around that same time, her band, the Spiederman Mind Explosion, who had also done extremely well solo, decided to switch to Epic Records in LA, leaving Jude band-less and on her own. Her older sister, Sadie, was already married to Kwest Taylor, Jude's engineer and producer, so she was focused on her family and Jude was alone. Sure, she had Tyler, but he didn't understand anything about her music. So, she'd had Avery and decided to go the Sheryl Crow-route, writing mellow soft rock, which had actually really worked for her. Now, she was divorced, raising Avery on her own, and still working under G-Major, selling millions of albums.

"Mom?!" the headstrong and stubborn Avery called as she entered their four-story townhouse. "Sadie said you have to call her tonight!"

"Avery, stop yelling," Jude demanded. "I'm right here."

Avery looked over her shoulder and saw her mother in the living room. "Oh, sorry. She said something about a birthday party. Am I invited?"

"Technically, yes," Jude answered, showing her daughter the invitation. "But we're not going, so don't get your hopes up."

"Ugh, mom!" Avery whined. "Why can't we go? And who are these people?"

Jude patted the seat next to her on the couch. "A long time ago, when I won _Instant Star, _Darius Mills became my manager. Then, a year later, he'd taken over G-Major, which he still owns and runs. When I married your dad, though, Darius, his sister, Portia, and his daughter, Maya, moved to New York to relocate G-Major's headquarters and everything in Toronto was left to Jamie and Sadie. I still talk to Darius on the telephone at least once a week, but he's mostly a figurehead now. Anyways, his birthday is coming up and Portia and Maya are throwing him a big party."

"Let's go!" Avery pleaded. "Please? Sadie and Kwest are going, and Jamie probably is, too. Why aren't we?"

"There's more," Jude assured her. "So, at that same time, my band, the Spiederman Mind Explosion, decided to amicably split from G-Major, so they went to Epic Records in LA and I haven't talked to them since."

"So we're not going because of those three guys?" Avery guessed. "Mom, that's lame."

Jude closed her eyes and thought of the real reason they weren't going. "Go wash up for dinner. We're having cheeseburgers and tater tots."

"This sucks," Avery grumbled, shuffling away. "Totally sucks."

Jude smirked as her daughter disappeared up the stairs. She knew Avery wouldn't understand the situation. Fifteen years ago, Tom Quincy, the love of her life, had asked her to go away to Thailand with him for a much-needed vacation after finishing her third album. He'd been her producer, best friend, and inspiration all in one, so it had seemed like the right choice. But they'd tried a relationship before and he'd always found a way to break her heart, so the walls were too thick to come down and she'd chosen, reluctantly, to stay behind in Toronto. Tommy never came back; instead, he sold everything he had in Ontario and moved to New York City, working for the small G-Major branch before becoming vice president when Darius moved headquarters to Manhattan. Jude hadn't seen or heard from him since and she wasn't ready to put herself through seeing him.

"Jude, you're going to Southampton," Sadie Taylor commanded her younger sister later that night as they spoke on the phone. "It's been fifteen years and I'd like to think you've finally grown up, so prove it and come with us. You have to meet Spiederman's wife and introduce him to Avery. She's a budding guitarist-slash-potty mouth so who better to polish her ways than the master of both? He was your best friend for almost nine years and I know he misses you. He always asks about you in his e-mails to Kwest."

"Yeah, I'll admit it would be nice to rekindle my friendships with him, Wally, and Kyle, and I'd _love_ to know how he managed to snag Nic Quincy, one of LA's most sought-after socialites who just happens to be his most-feared guy's little sister, but it would just be weird, Sade."

Sadie groaned. "Stop worrying about Tommy, Jude. Screw him! It's a week in the Hamptons. Avery can meet Darius and Portia and the boys. So what if Tommy's going to be there? Ignore him." She sighed. "Christian, stop changing the channel; your sister has to watch that movie for school." Her attention went back to Jude. "Never have twins if you can help it. By the time they're 13, they'll be driving you crazy."

"A nine-year-old drives me crazy," Jude pointed out. "She desperately wants to go to this party now, thank you very much, and she's mad cause we're not."

"Jude," Sadie sighed. "You drive me nuts sometimes, I swear. Forget Tommy and Spiederman and everything else and just focus on Darius. It's his 50th birthday, Jude, and the man adores you. You're his best-selling artist of all time, and that includes Boyz Attack."

"You make a convincing argument," Jude said. "I wish I could use the I-can't-get-out-of-work excuse, but since it's for my boss and I technically have to listen to you and Jamie, who are both going, I can't." She cringed at what she was about to say. "Call Portia and tell her to make room for two more."

"Yay!" Avery cried, jumping out from behind the wall that led upstairs. "Party, party, party!"

Jude looked up. "Sadie, I'll talk to you later." She hung up and threw the cordless phone down next to her. "It's not until July, so don't go getting all excited about it right now."

"I know," Avery nodded, sitting down in the recliner. "Mom, who's Tom Quincy?"

"Why?" Jude demanded. "Where'd you hear about him? Sadie? Kwest?"

"Well, all I know about your music is what you've done since I've been born," Avery explained. "I wanted to know more, so I Googled you and in every article, it mentioned him. A few even said you dated."

The 33-year-old Jude sat back against the couch. "Tommy, which is I always called him, was my first producer when I won the competition and we didn't get off to a good start, at all. He was a washed-up boy bander and I wanted to write and sing my own music, not let him change it. Turns out, what he had to say made my music as good as it was. We connected deeper than I've ever connected with anyone and the chemistry was pretty electric. Anyways, we had a lot of issues, but just after my third album was released, he was ready to take that plunge again. Unfortunately, I wasn't and when he asked me to go to Asia with him, I never showed up and he never came back."

"Wow," Avery breathed. "Did you love him?"

Jude nodded. "Yeah, but he'd hurt me before and I wasn't ready to give him my heart again."

"Does Dad know about him?" Avery wondered.

"He knew some," Jude confirmed. "Sweetie, your dad and I weren't good together, but it wasn't about Tommy, okay?"

"I know," Avery told her. "Dad just didn't want to be here anymore. It's okay." Tyler Cooper was now living in Vancouver and got Avery on every other major holiday. "But how come you don't talk to Tommy anymore?"

Jude eyed her daughter. "What's with all the questions right now? Tommy and I don't speak anymore because it got complicated and now, it's too late. Now, go take a shower and we'll watch _The Prince and Me_."

"All right," Avery muttered, walking down the hallway to the shower.

Before Jude could change into her own pajamas, her cell phone rang. "Hello?" she answered without looking at the screen.

"Dude!" a familiar male voice cried on the other end. "Portia just called and told me Sadie says you're going to Darius' party? I'm stoked!"

"Spied," she smiled softly, happy to hear his voice after ten years. "It's been way, _way_ too long."

"Uhh, yeah," he said. "You have a nine-year-old daughter I've never even met. What's up with that?"

Jude laughed. "I had her when I was feeling pretty depressed because I felt like my life was falling apart."

"You were married," he remembered.

"But Tyler didn't understand anything about my music," she replied. "He was in medical school and never had time to listen. Avery's my best friend these days, other than Jamie, but he's at work all the time."

He let out a low whistle on his end. "I can't believe you have a kid."

"Umm, I can't believe you managed to marry Nic Quincy and live to tell the tale," she shot back. "How'd that happen?"

"We met here in LA about seven years ago and it was hard not to fall in love with her," he joked. "I mean, you've at least seen pictures of her, right? She's drop-dead. Anyways, we had a small beach ceremony six years ago, with just Wally and Kyle, and it's been amazing ever since. I love her more every day, as lame as that sounds."

"I thought I felt like that once upon a time," she told him.

"With Tommy?" he assumed.

She was momentarily silent. "No, with Tyler."

"Oh," was all he said. "I guess I always just thought you and Tommy would end up together. I was wrong."

"First time for everything," she teased. "So, no kids for you two, I guess?"

"Hell to the no," he chuckled. "She doesn't want to screw with her perfect physique and we're always traveling with the band, so we don't have the stability. Someday, before we're 40, we hope to, but who knows? Accidents happen, I guess."

"I'm happy for you, Spied," she murmured. "After all that crap with Karma that I heard about, you deserve so much better."

After two years in LA, Karma had gotten brainwashed by the glitterati of Hollywood and had fallen into the trap of parties, alcohol, and drugs. She'd been caught with cocaine and was now serving a sentence of eight years probation. Spiederman, though reluctant, had divorced her. Now, though, he was happily re-married and things were good.

"Thanks," he finally said. "So, it's only 5:30, so Nic and I are gonna go out to eat, but I'll see you next month for sure?"

"For sure," she confirmed. "And you can definitely call me again before then."

"Who was on the phone?" Avery wondered as she walked back to the living room, brushing out her dark, damp hair.

Jude grinned as she set up the DVD. "It was actually Spiederman because he already heard through the grapevine that we're going to the party."

"See?" Avery said. "He obviously misses you if he called that quick."

"It was nice to hear from him," Jude decided. "Sadie, Jamie, and Kwest say every day that you're just like him."

Avery shrugged. "Maybe you raised me that way?"

"How so?" Jude asked.

"Well, you missed him, so you raised me to take his place," Avery analyzed.

"You, my child, are far too wise for your age," Jude scoffed. "Stop reading all those damn books and play a video game or something."

Avery was quiet for a while as the movie began. "Mom," she finally spoke up, "do you know if Tommy ever got married or anything?"

Jude paused the movie. "I don't know. I always assumed he hadn't because Sadie would've told me, even though I made her promise to keep all Tommy news from Kwest to herself, but I think she'd tell me if he were married. However, if he never did, I feel bad cause then he's been alone for all this time."

"Maybe you two could get back together?" Avery mumbled.

"I don't think so," Jude smiled sympathetically. "It's been fifteen years, Av, and that's way too long. If we can manage to even be friends again, I think that would be miraculous."

"Whatever you say, Mom," Avery smirked, wrapping herself in a blanket. "Now turn the movie back on, this is my favorite part."

When the movie ended, Jude helped Avery to her bed and then found herself sitting on her own bed, looking through an old shoebox she'd pulled from her walk-in closet. It was filled with things that reminded her of Tommy, including the journal he'd given her, the original writing of 'Love to Burn' that he'd written her, and the ticket to Thailand she'd never used.

"It's going to be a long week," she sighed, shutting off the light as she fell asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

**First, let me just say that I'm thrilled people like Avery so much. She's modeled after what it would've been like if me and my niece were one nine-year-old; musically gifted (my niece) and full of attitude (me). Secondly, 21 reviews for two chapters, one of which was just basic info, is amazing. I hope it continues cause that definitely motivates me. To those 21 people (many of which reviewed both chapters) you know I love you. I really do.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. **

"Avery Justine, if you want to live through this week, you will carry your own luggage out to the car," Jude told her daughter as they walked through the small Hamptons airport Sunday morning on July 14.

Avery, who'd been so excited that she was running ahead of everyone, slowed down and took her suitcase from Kwest. "Geez, Mom, just because you're nervous doesn't mean you have to act all bitchy to everyone else."

"Nine-years-old and that's how she talks to me," Jude muttered to Sadie as Avery walked ahead with Kwest and Jamie. "Not that it's a shock, cause I give her freedom of expression as long as she doesn't abuse it, but she thinks it's funny that I'm so uncomfortable about being here."

"I'm just glad Dad and Yvette offered to keep Christian and Alana cause they didn't want to come and miss some birthday party they're invited to on Thursday and cause we didn't want to bring them," Sadie laughed. "We needed a vacation."

"Yeah, but Alana is a sweetheart so long as Christian isn't around," Jude pointed out. "And Christian is good without her. Avery needs no accomplice to act wild."

"Good point," Sadie agreed, "but she's your best friend and you love her. If you'd have had her like, six years earlier, you'd totally be the like Gilmore girls."

"But not," Jude pointed out. "I was 24 and completely well-off. Anyways, where are we staying?"

"I didn't tell you?" Sadie replied. "Oh, well, Portia filled Darius' house with family, and Liam, who we were all surprised came, so luckily, Nic Spiederman inherited her family's place in Bridgehampton and she invited us all to stay there. Well, I think Jamie's at a hotel, but the rest of us are at Casa Quincy."

Jude eyed her sister. "Sadie, did you think, when you agreed for all of us to stay there, that since it's also Tommy's family, that he would probably also be staying there?"

"I did," Sadie confirmed. "But Jamie booked the last room and it was this or Darius' yacht and I don't do well on water."

"Great," Jude muttered. "This had better be a big house."

"Well, according to Portia, the Quincy's were incredibly wealthy and the house has been in their family for like, a hundred years, so I'm sure it's quite nice, especially if it's housing the four of us, Nic and Spiederman, Wally, Kyle, and Tommy."

Jude noticed that Sadie didn't mention another woman, meaning if Tommy was married or in a relationship, his significant other hadn't come with him.

"Nice transportation," Jamie breathed as they were escorted to a Lincoln Navigator. "When Darius Mills parties, he does it well."

The ride through the Hamptons was encompassed by Avery squealing over the beach and Sadie squealing over the boutiques in town. They dropped Jamie at his hotel and continued towards where they were staying.

"Damn," Avery muttered under her breath as the Navigator pulled up the winding gravel driveway to an incredibly large, waterfront mansion. "We're staying _here_?"

"Apparently," Jude confirmed, climbing out of the SUV and smiling broadly as three familiar faces hurried out from the house. "Well, well, well, good to see LA hasn't changed your all's sense of style. I see that crappy jeans, old t-shirts, and Converse are still staples to your look."

Kyle Bateman, her original drummer, hugged her tightly. "Good to see you, too, Red."

"Red?" Avery repeated. "Your hair is blonde."

"Not naturally," Vincent Spiederman, or just Spiederman to those who didn't want to die, smirked. "Cherry here changed it when we were fifteen after her break-up from Jamers."

Avery gasped. "Mom, you dated Jamie?! Why didn't you ever tell me that?"

"Just once," Jude reported. "It didn't last and after a while of him hating me, we realized we were better as friends."

"Yeah, and between that time, she also dated Spied," Wally Robbins, the bass player, put in. "Your mom certainly used to get around back in the day, kid."

Jude rolled her eyes. "Avery, this is the Spiederman Mind Explosion. Spied plays guitar and is lead vocals, Wally plays bass, and Kyle is the drummer. They were the first, only, and best band I ever had."

"Aww," Spiederman said pulling her into a big hug. "Avery," he went on, focusing on the young girl, "it's nice to meet you. Kwest tells me you're into the guitar? I could teach you way better than your mom."

"He's right," Jude nodded. "I'm confident enough to admit that."

"Cool," Avery gushed. "I love your all's music and I about died when Mom told me you guys were her band, even though she never talks about her music before I was born, like, ever. I just heard about Tommy when she told me we were coming."

Spiederman glanced at Jude in surprise. "You never told her about Squinty?"

"You still call him that?" Jude laughed. "Married his sister and kept the nickname. Vincent Spiederman, I am thoroughly impressed."

"That didn't answer my question," Spiederman shot back. "Why didn't you tell her about Tommy? Hell, for three years, we all thought you'd eventually marry him."

Jude looked away. "Well, it got complicated and he chose to never come back to Toronto, so why tell her anything about someone I never thought she'd meet?"

"Well, moving on," Wally interrupted. "Why doesn't everyone come inside and we'll show you your rooms?"

Jude followed the three boys inside with Avery, Sadie, Kwest, and Jamie behind her. "Spied, where's your wife?"

"In our room, on the phone with Portia," he replied. "Portia wants Nic to help her set up the first event tomorrow, which is a brunch, and Nic doesn't want to. She already agreed to help with the yachting excursion on Wednesday."

"How big is the yacht?" Kwest wondered.

Kyle shrugged. "About 100 feet. But Portia and Maya only invited the G-Major originals, so there's only going to be like 20 people at the most."

"Hello, hello," Nic sang out, emerging from a room near the landing just above them. "Jude Harrison, it's nice to finally meet you."

"Dang," Jude breathed in Spiederman's ear. "You weren't kidding. Your wife is gorgeous."

With her long, wavy brown hair and flawless skin, Nic Spiederman looked as though she'd just came out of a fashion magazine.

"Hi," Jude smiled as Nic walked down the staircase. "I've heard a lot about you over the last month or so."

"Well, I'm just glad you fixed your friendships with the boys cause I was getting so tired of hearing them whine all the time about how much they missed you," Nic reported. "You know, I've seen you on TV and in pictures, but my brother was right."

"Right about what?" Avery wondered, clutching Jude's hand.

Nic shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it, and neither could he, but you definitely have something special about you."

"Umm, special?" Avery repeated. "Like, special ed?"

Spiederman laughed loudly. "This kid is great, dude. Come on, Avery, I'll show you my guitar collection that I brought here for the summer." He, along with Wally and Kyle, led Avery away down a flight of stairs to the entertainment room.

"So, Tommy says he hasn't seen or heard from you in fifteen years," Nic remarked as she continued leading Jude to her bedroom up the steps. "I think he's a little nervous about your reunion."

"He wouldn't the only one," Jude admitted, glancing at all the old Quincy family photos on the walls. "This house is amazing."

"Yeah, I like it," Nic agreed, pushing back a door. "Well, here's your room. Avery is next-door. So, you're divorced, huh?"

Jude nodded. "Yeah, about six years ago. It was hard to connect with someone who thought music was just a hobby and that eventually, I'd find a 'real' job."

"Ouch," Nic scoffed. "Well, Tommy never married and he never has serious relationships, so maybe you two could patch things up? He misses Toronto and he's getting restless in Manhattan."

"Wow, you jump right to the point, don't you?" Jude noticed. "I didn't come here to rekindle a relationship with him, at all. I came because it's Darius' birthday and because Avery wanted to meet everyone she's only read about or I've told her of barely."

Nic unzipped Jude's suitcase and began sifting through her clothes. "So, you're saying that you want nothing to do with my brother? That'll break his little heart."

"I'm saying I don't want a relationship," Jude corrected. "We can be friends, even though that's never really worked for us in the past. It was always a little something more for the most part."

"I know," Nic said, holding up a pair of Jude's Rock and Republic straight leg jeans. "These are cute."

Jude smiled. "Thanks. So, when exactly is Tommy getting in?"

"Sometime tonight, I assume," Nic replied. "He had an early business dinner with Mason Fox, so probably around 8:00, depending on traffic cause he refuses to use a helicopter."

"You know, he never once mentioned that his family had money," Jude murmured.

"Cause Tommy was our family's black sheep," Nic reported. "Our family was prominent in Montreal, so when Tommy decided he was going to join a boy band, it was as if he told our parents he was giving up his trust fund and going to live in the desert because that's how they reacted to it. So, he sort of disassociated himself from them, but I always remained in contact. I mean, he's my older brother, so I adored him, still do. Anyways, when I was 18, I went to UCLA in California and never went back to Montreal, so these days, our parents aren't so fond of me either, but who cares? We still get their money, they already gave me this house, and Tommy's gonna get the Montreal manse cause even though he hated Montreal, he certainly loved that house."

"Wow," Jude breathed. "I thought my family was corrupt cause my parents divorced when I was 16; guess not."

Nic sat down on Jude's bed. "Spiederman is expecting you and I to be best friends."

"Of course he is," Jude chuckled. "Well, from what you've shown me, I don't see why we couldn't at least start off as just friends? I mean, you're very well-dressed, which means Avery will adore you, and if Spiederman likes you that much, I'm sure I will, too."

"I hope so," Nic gushed. "At this point, Kyle has been my best friend for seven years and I love him like a brother, but I need female companionship, you know?"

"Yeah," Jude nodded. "These days, I have Sadie and Avery, that's it. Other than that, all the people at the Toronto G-Major are guys, I'm around a lot of testosterone."

"I'd say, 'try going on tour with three guys for eight months,' but wait, you've done that," Nic laughed. "Anyways, why don't we have dinner tonight? Sadie and Kwest can spend time together, Spied and the boys can take care of Avery, and I'll fill you in on every intricate detail of my brother's life for the last fifteen years."

Jude sighed. For some reason, even though they'd only just met, she already really liked Nic and she did need girlfriends. "Okay, yeah. I don't mean you have to tell me everything about Tommy, but I'm up for dinner."

"Well, I can't stay right now, cause I'm due at the Calvin Klein estate for a luncheon to support some new benefit about breast cancer, but I'm not eating, so I'll be back around 5:30 or so." She bounded out of the room, leaving Jude alone to unpack and explore the house.

"Mom, Spied's gonna teach me 'The Man Who Sold the World!'" Avery cried when Jude found her daughter in the spacious entertainment room, surrounded by musical instruments. "I love that song!"

"I know," Jude said, sitting on the arm of a couch. "This is a nice little set-up y'all got going on here."

Spiederman stared at her. "Did you just say 'y'all?' Did Toronto go country after we left?"

"Ha ha," she intoned dryly. "You're still hilarious. And what about you? Last time I saw you in person, you had shaggy, grungy hair, but now, it's chic and trendy. You sell-out."

He scoffed. "Please. Shaggy is very in right now, so I had to change it to remain ahead of the times."

"Or because Nic made you do it for a photo shoot in _Vanity Fair_," Kyle teased. "However, fans seem to really dig it."

Spiederman grinned smugly. "I could shave my head and fans would like it."

"It's amazing," Jude muttered. "You're 33-years-old and still look and act 22. I'm incredibly surprised. Do you train or something? All of you?"

Wally eyed her up and down. "What about you? You had a kid, who's sitting right next to us, and you're as small as you were the last time we saw you. We all must've been born with good genes."

"Good," Avery spoke up. "I don't want to get old; at least, I don't want to _look_ old."

"I love this kid," Spiederman grinned. "And did you know she cusses?"

"Like a sailor," Jude confirmed.

Avery shrugged. "Mom believes in freedom of expression if I don't abuse it."

"Red, she's smart," Kyle pointed out. "How did the girl who got a 6-percent in math have a smart child?"

"My dad is a brain surgeon," Avery piped up. "I've been reading since I was almost three."

"Really?" Wally asked. "Have you ever seen the movie _Parenthood_? You're like Rick Moranis' daughter cause she was five and knew like, everything."

"I knew everything at four," Avery joked.

"Genius," Spiederman muttered. "This kid is a genius."

Avery bowed. "Thank you, thank you."

"Well, Nic and I are having dinner tonight, so can you three keep an eye on Avery?" Jude asked her friends.

"Definitely," Kyle agreed. "She's talented, but still has much to learn."

Before anyone could say anything, and before Avery could protest, a door slammed upstairs.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" Tom Quincy called out.

"And so it begins," Spiederman whispered to Jude, who immediately froze at the sound of the haunting voice she hadn't heard in years.


	4. Chapter 3

**So, it hasn't even been 24 hours and I'm already updating. And that's totally because of everyone who reviews. I swear, it's a total booster. Anyways, I also really like writing Avery cause she's so much funny and besides the friendship she's developing with Spiederman, she'll also come to have a close bond with Tommy. Future step-dad, maybe? Looks like you'll just have to read until the end to see. Shay, because it's Darius' birthday, will probably also share words with the hotheaded nine-year-old, I haven't decided. Let me know what you think about that one. Kisses.**

"Is that Tommy?" Avery whispered to Wally and Kyle as they watched Jude stare at the door.

"Yeah," Wally whispered back. "Which is why your mom has suddenly gone catatonic."

Avery shrugged. "I don't know what that means, but I think it's probably not cool."

"Hello?" Tommy called out again. "Nic? Spied?"

"I'll be up in just a minute!" Spiederman finally responded. "I'm, uhh, working on a new song!"

Jude turned to her old guitarist with a look of bewilderment on her face. "Nic said he wouldn't get in until tonight. She said he was having dinner with Mason." Jude was now pacing.

"Apparently not," Kyle spoke up. "Why don't you go and greet him, Red?"

"Can it, Drummer Boy," she demanded. "I'm not ready to see him."

"Well," Avery said, "I am." She took off up the stairs.

Tommy was flipping through the latest issue of _Hamptons_ magazine when the basement door opened and a girl with wavy, wheat blonde hair appeared. "Hello," he greeted her. "Who are you?"

"Avery," she responded vaguely. "Who are _you_?"

"Tommy," he introduced. "Who do you know here?"

"My mom," she replied. "Who do _you_ know here?"

He scoffed at her candor. "My family owns this house. Well, it's my sister's now. Who's your mom?"

"Hey, Tommy," Spiederman said, emerging before Avery could tell him. "Nic said you were meeting with Cowpoke. What happened there?"

"His grandpa's sick so he took an emergency flight to Manitoba," Tommy explained, gesturing to Avery. "Whose kid?"

"Mine," a soft voice answered beneath the doorframe that led to the basement. "She's mine."

Tommy didn't have to look over to know Jude Harrison was standing there. It was the voice he'd been hearing in his dreams for fifteen years, maybe more. She sounded as angelic and ethereal as ever.

"Jude," he finally breathed, looking at her. "How are you?"

"I'm good," she smiled, walking towards him. "How about you?"

He noticed that she didn't look a day over 23, except that she maybe seemed more mature, even though she'd always been beyond her years. Her hair was still a soft blonde and was now cropped shorter and near her chin. Her light blue eyes were still penetrating and he felt more alive in that minute than he had in years. "I'm good. New York's been very kind to me."

Tommy looked exactly the same. Even at barely 40, he still wore his hair styled and not a single gray was evident if he had any. His cheekbones were still well-defined and his clothes still impeccable.

Avery noticed the tension in the room. "So, Darius. What's he like?"

Spiederman stifled a laugh at her attempt to change the uncomfortable subject. "Well, back in the day, he was kind of scary and intimidating, but these days, he's as soft as a giant teddy bear. I still find it odd that your mother is still at G-Major, under Darius, and you've never met him. Dude, why do you keep your child under a rock?"

"Cause he hasn't been to the Toronto studio since Avery was two, so she doesn't remember him," Jude reported. "Jamie does too good of a job for Darius to worry. I, on the other hand, talk to him on the phone at least once a week and Portia usually twice."

"I've seen pictures," Avery put in. "Formidable bald guy, that much I know."

Tommy looked at Jude with a raised eyebrow. "She knows what 'formidable' means? She's what, ten?"

"Nine," Spiederman corrected. "And she's way smarter than I was until I met your sister."

"That," Tommy began, "I believe. Speaking of, where is Nic?"

"Calvin Klein's," Kyle answered as he and Wally joined the group. "Breast cancer benefit luncheon."

"I see," Tommy nodded. "Well, I assume I'm staying in my old room?"

Spiederman opened the refrigerator and pulled out a Red Bull. "Yeah, I think so. Nic and Jude are having dinner tonight, but Kwest and Sadie are around somewhere."

"I think they went shopping," Jude said. "Sadie saw Calypso and went nuts."

"Nice to know some things never change," Tommy mused. "So, Avery, do you like music?"

"It's only my single greatest passion in life," Avery gushed. "Well, that and the movie _Saved!_"

Spiederman gasped. "Oh, my God, I've been reincarnated into a nine-year-old little girl. That's my favorite movie of all time."

"Spied does like his religious parodies," Wally confirmed. "He also loves-"

"_Dogma_?" Avery cut him off. "Shut up! Me, too!"

Kyle leaned into Jude. "I think our best friend has a new best friend."

"Kid, this could be the start of a fantastic friendship," Spiederman told Avery. "Want a beer?" he joked.

Avery looked to Jude. "Can I?"

"I preach freedom of expression, not freedom of alcohol," Jude denied. "Not until you're 16."

"That's not legal," Tommy pointed out.

"Yeah, but it's better to start her early and tolerate it," Jude said. "If teenagers have open access to alcohol, it's been proven that they're less likely to abuse it."

Tommy smirked. "Interesting parenting skills you have there, girl."

Everyone was suddenly silent. Avery averted her gaze from her mom, to Tommy, to Spiederman, to Wally and Kyle, back to Tommy, and then to Jude again. "Uhh, earth to the adults in the room?"

"Sorry," Jude apologized quickly. "So, Av, how's the guitar lesson going down there?"

"I already told you he's teaching me 'The Man Who Sold the World,'" Avery reminded her. "What just happened in here?"

Tommy stood up from the stool he'd been sitting on. "It was nothing. You know, I think I'm going to go and unpack. I'll catch up with you all later." He hurried away and upstairs.

"I'm gonna take a walk," Jude added, heading to the door. "You guys will keep an eye on her? Thanks!" The door slammed loudly behind her.

"Uhh, which one of you would like to explain that?" Avery demanded of the three guys in front of her. "I'm a fabulous whiner, by the way, so I'll do so until I'm told what I want to hear."

Spiederman pulled out Tommy's vacated stool and patted it. "Have a seat, kid." Once she was seated, he sighed and leaned against the countertop. "Well, you must know that your mom and Tommy dated way before you were born, right? And that he was her first, and definitely best, producer and all that crap?"

"Yeah," she confirmed. "But why did everyone spaz out when he called her 'girl?' It's just a nickname."

Kyle shook his head. "No, no. It's not just _a_ nickname, it's _the _nickname. See, he started calling her that when she was fifteen and it stuck. No one could call anyone else that, especially her; it was their special thing, so for him to call her that now just brings back a lot of repressed memories."

"Well, I doubt they're repressed," Wally jumped in. "I don't think Jude's been trying to forget them."

"Yeah, maybe more along the lines of storing them but not to be recalled," Spiederman agreed. "Your mom and Tommy had a connection like I've never seen before, and that includes my own marriage."

Avery was intrigued. "Really? Then why the hell did they break-up in the first place?"

"He broke up with her to protect her," Wally remembered. "See, back when he was in Boyz Attack, Tommy was married to Portia."

"And Portia is Darius' younger sister," Kyle reminded her.

Wally cleared his throat to signify that he was telling the story. "Anyways, back in those days, he met this girl, Angie, and he fell completely in love with her. Plus, he was good friends with her older brother, Hunter, so it was all working out. Well, as his manager, Darius told Tommy that if he wanted to continue with his career, he had to give up Angie, especially since he was married to Portia. And since Tommy was a famewhore, he dumped her. Hunter, however, knew Tommy was going to do it and he was very protective of his little sister, so he decided that if Angie couldn't be with Tommy, no one could. While Tommy was at Angie's apartment breaking up with her, Hunter was outside, messing with the brakes on Tommy's car. What he'd never expected was that Angie would steal Tommy's keys and speed away, only to slam into a tree when the brakes immediately went out."

"So Hunter killed Angie on accident?" Avery realized. "What's that got to do with my mom and Tommy?"

"The brakes, for some reason, didn't register having been tampered with, so the police concluded she'd been driving recklessly," Spiederman jumped in. "Hunter went after Tommy and was eventually locked up for five years before being released just around your mom's eighteenth birthday. As soon as Tommy saw Hunter, and Hunter threatened to go after the one thing Tommy loved most, which was your mom at that time, as it had been for three years, Tommy saw breaking up with her as the only logical way to keep her safe. Of course, your mom still fell into Hunter's trap, just like Tommy, but they saved each other."

Avery's innocent face was pale white. "He was going to kill my mom, wasn't he?"

"We think so," Kyle nodded. "But Tommy never would've let that happen. He really did love your mom."

"More than he'd ever loved Angie," Kwest added as he and Sadie entered from the sliding glass door behind them. "That much he told me."

Sadie smiled at her niece. "And your mom loved him back."

"Then why didn't she go with him?" Avery wanted to know.

"It was partially my fault," Sadie admitted. "You see, before Tommy ever dated your mom, he dated me. And although I was starting to sort of date Kwest at the time, Tommy had been my girlhood dream boy, so I never fully got over him. When he dumped Jude the night of her birthday party, Tommy got really drunk and I felt bad, so I offered to take him up to the room Kwest had, umm, gotten us in the hotel the party was at. While we were there, I stupidly took advantage of the situation and kissed him, just as your mom was walking in to talk to him about what had happened. So, in my kissing him, he'd broken her heart, again, and she never really got over that, even though she did love him."

"Man," Avery sighed. "He probably would've been a really good dad."

"Ha!" Spiederman laughed. "Tommy is possibly the most selfish guy on the planet."

Kwest smirked. "You married his sister, so what's that say about Nic?"

"Oh, she's definitely conceited," Kyle jumped in, "but at least she's hot."

"Hey, that's my wife!" Spiederman cried. "You can't call her hot. I mean, she is, but only I can say that now. When we were just dating, it was fine, but now, lines have been drawn."

"Yeah, yeah," Kyle laughed. "Anyways, Tommy went to Thailand, Jude stayed here, and I guess the rest is history."

Avery sighed. "Well, clearly my mom is a fuck-up for that one. Don't tell her I said that cause saying 'fuck' is taking advantage of her rules, but she is. I mean, she let him go! He loved her enough to protect her from that crazy guy and she just let him leave. She's a nutter, I swear."

"Indeed," Spiederman agreed. "So, while your mom and Nic go out tonight, you wanna finish learning 'The Man Who Sold the World' and then Kyle can introduce you to 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' on the drums?"

"Okay," she nodded.

When Nic returned from the Calvin Klein benefit luncheon, the house seemed empty. Living with eight other people there was always someone everywhere at all times, but the living room, kitchen, and both second-floor bedrooms were quiet.

"Damn it!" she heard Avery cry from the entertainment room downstairs.

Nic opened the door that led down and listened.

"Calm down," Spiederman advised. "You're going too fast, that's all. Rome wasn't built in a day, you know."

"Yes, I do," she confirmed. "But I'm good at the guitar. I learn songs in like, twenty minutes."

"Well, not this one," he pointed out. "It's hard to do cause the beginning is such a famous opening that you have to completely perfect it before I let you move on."

"Avery, you don't have to listen to him," Nic announced, going down to the room. "He's just enjoying his time as a teacher, so he'll pretend he's the greatest of all time."

"Uhh, I am," Spiederman corrected her. "How many Grammy's has SME won? Four. How many have you won? Zero."

Nic rolled her eyes. "Last I checked, I'm not a musician."

"Can I ask you a question?" Avery interrupted. "Does Tommy still love my mom?"

This caught Nic off-guard. "Oh, umm, I don't know. I mean, his longest relationship since he left her has been about six months, so it's quite possible, I suppose. Why?"

"Well, I think she still loves him," Avery decided. "I mean, she said that she and my dad got divorced cause he didn't understand or appreciate her music, but maybe she said that because he didn't understand or appreciate it like Tommy did? I mean, from what I've heard, they had some killer chemistry."

"They did," Nic told her. "Well, I never saw it firsthand, but according to Spied and the boys, they were electric."

Avery bit her lip. "Do you think they could get back together?"

"Why are you so interested in this?" Spiederman wondered. "I mean, you don't really know Tommy and you never knew them together."

"My mom hasn't been really happy for as long as I can remember," Avery explained. "I don't really remember what she was like with my dad cause I was only two when they got divorced, she doesn't go on any dates. And then, she doesn't know this, but sometimes at night when I can't sleep, I'll sit outside her bedroom cause she's always playing her keyboard and it's always the same song and it sounds so sad."

Spiederman hurried to the piano in the corner and played the intro to 'White Lines.' "Is this the song she plays?"

"Yeah!" Avery exclaimed. "What is it?"

"It's called 'White Lines,' and it was on her second album," he answered. "She wrote it about Tommy when we were on our first tour when we were sixteen. When it first went onto _The Learning Curve_, which is her second album, I was mad cause it was right around the time we broke up and 'Anyone But You' was eighty-sixed, but after listening to it, I knew 'White Lines' was meant to be heard."

"Then we have to get them back together!" Avery said, jumping up from the couch. "We have a week but I think we can do it."

Nic smiled. "I like your persistence, kid; I'm in." She glanced at her husband. "Spied?"

"Why not?" he shrugged. "Even though it's been ten years, Jude's still my best friend and I want her to be happy."

Avery grinned mischievously. "I'm glad you agreed because I've already got ideas…"


	5. Chapter 4

**So, here's an update for everyone. Sorry this one took me a bit but I've had exams a lot in the last few days, so those have consumed me. Anyways, I'm giving you all the option of choosing the next chapter here. It can either be: Jude and Nic at dinner where Nic tells Jude about Tommy's life for the last 15 years, OR it can be Avery and Tommy at the house while Tommy tells Avery about Jude's first years as the Instant Star. You decide and let me know by tomorrow night cause that's when I'll wait to start the next chapter. To everyone, who reviews, **_grazie_**And when you need something to read, go read anything by golfa chickie. I love her stories and I KNOW you would too. They're fab and you can find a link in my profile. Kisses.**

When Jude got back from her walk on the beach, she found Tommy sitting on the back deck, reading _Catcher in the Rye,_ which she knew was his favorite book.

"Hi," she muttered, walking up the wooden staircase. "Still good the 500th time?"

"Still good," he confirmed, marking his place and setting the novel aside. "So, Avery. She certainly seems like she'd be a handful."

"You have no idea," she laughed lightly. "She's like Spiederman, Wally, and Kyle all rolled into one with her own little flair. Plus, she's a fashionista in the making."

"So just add a little Nic," he chuckled. "So, you're married then?"

Jude leaned against the railing. "No one ever told you?"

"I sort of asked them not to," he admitted.

"Oh," she murmured. "Well, I got married to Tyler, a medical student at York, when I was 23, had Avery when I was 24, and was divorced by 26."

"I'm sorry to hear that," he apologized, only half-lying. "Is it intrusive to ask what happened?"

"It is," she smirked, "but I'll answer. Umm, Tyler graduated right after Avery was born, so he was interning at Toronto University Hospital most of the time, so I was taking Avery to G-Major with me. Long story short, we never saw each other much cause there were nights, which you know, where I was in the studio until long after midnight and he went in at 5:30 every morning. So, he decided I should give up music to find a 'real' job and he just couldn't understand that music was my life, not just a hobby. Two months later, we were divorced and he'd moved to Vancouver."

"Wow," he breathed. "Does Avery ever see him?"

She shrugged. "Every other major holiday, so a few times a year. He's not a bad guy, but he wasn't ready for a kid."

"Most parents aren't," Tommy agreed. "But it seems like you're doing an amazing job with her. You can tell she really looks up to you."

"Of course she does," Jude scoffed. "For the most part, as long as it's within limit, I let her do, and say, what she wants. Free expression, I call it; I wish my parents had raised me that way."

"I think you grew up just fine," he told her softly. "Your parents, as dysfunctional as they seemed, only wanted what was best for you, Jude."

"I know," she nodded. "They're good people, my parents, but their marriage was never strong enough. They're happier now than they ever were when they were together."

"So I assume your mom is still married to Don and your dad is with uhh, Yvette, was it?" he asked.

"Yeah," she told him. "Dad and Yvette married when I was 20. They're actually keeping Sadie and Kwest's twins, Christian and Alana, with them this week."

Tommy looked out at the water. "I can't believe they had kids. They're married with children, you have a daughter, my sister and Spiederman are married. It's so crazy."

"Well, Sadie and Kwest aren't that crazy," she pointed out. "And it's not weird that I have a child when I was married; people do that. It is, however, astonishing that Spiederman managed to marry your little sister, of people, and you didn't kill him for it."

He laughed. "Well, it crossed my mind. But, Nic really loves him and I couldn't stand in the way of that."

"Seems that everyone's grown up then," she joked. "But, I have to ask, how in the hell do you keep your hair like that when you're 40? Chemical treatments?"

He rolled his eyes. "Very funny. No, but you know I've always taken good care of my hair."

"You're like Uncle Jesse from _Full House_," she teased.

"Thanks," he responded dryly. "There's a comparison I've always wanted to hear. Does that make you like Murphy Brown?"

She shook her head. "Murphy Brown had her kid out of wedlock, I didn't. I'm just divorced now." She stuck out her tongue. "So, take that, Ego Boy."

"Ego Boy," he repeated. "I haven't heard that in the longest time."

When she was sixteen, it had been the first time Jude had realized Tommy was self-centered, so she'd created the alter ego, Ego Boy, for him, with the super power of the expanding ego that could take over any situation.

"It seemed like the appropriate name here," she shrugged. "I can't believe Darius is 50."

"I know," he breathed. "That'll be me in ten years."

She shuddered. "Stop, cause then I'd be 50 seven years later and I don't want to think about that."

"Think about what?" Avery asked, bounding out from inside the house.

"Getting old," Jude reported.

"Don't think about it," Avery advised. "You're already there."

"Avery!" Jude cried, even though she was used to it and yelling at her daughter was hopeless. "How's the lessons coming?"

Avery groaned. "Basically, I suck. Every time you teach me a song, I do it so good, but now, it's like I've never played the guitar in my life."

"There's a reason for that," Tommy chuckled. "Your mom wasn't her own lead guitarist, so when she learns songs, she just wants to learn them well enough to play them. I'm sure you're a good guitarist, but Vin will teach to be the best. He's a guitarist and that's what is important to him."

"He's right," Jude agreed. "I know you get frustrated, but you need to listen cause he can teach you a lot."

Tommy nodded. "He's probably one of the best contemporary guitarists in the world right now, so take note."

"This is unbelievable," Jude laughed. "You're complimenting Spiederman. After all those stupid fights and ridiculous arguments, you two finally get along."

"No, no," Tommy denied. "We still don't get along. I can tolerate him for a week, but most of the year, we're on different ends of the country so I don't have to."

"Well, I miss him," Jude admitted. "Avery actually said something intelligent the other night that I'd never realized until she pointed it out."

"What's that?" he asked.

Avery cleared her throat to tell the story. "That I was raised to be just like him. I think I definitely have some Wally and Kyle in me, too, but I am most certainly a mini-Spied. And I'm sure Sadie and Kwest and Jamie raised me to be like him, too, cause he seems to be very miss-able, so it's obvious."

"I see that," Tommy nodded faintly. "You have his mannerisms and you're a guitarist and you talk like you're on _Jerry Springer_. Definitely very Vin-like."

"From what I've seen of him, I'm taking that as a compliment," Avery decided. "So, Ma, where are you and Nic going to eat tonight?"

"No idea," Jude answered. "But, I've never been to the Hamptons, so she'll have to pick."

"Go to Lola's," Tommy advised. "It's a little dive place in town that's older than my grandpa but their burgers are fantastic."

"Good to know," Jude noted. "Av, why don't you go find Spiederman and ask him if he's going to make you dinner or if I should now before I go?"

"I can make her dinner," Tommy offered. "Ever after all these years, I still don't believe you're much of a cook."

"She's not," Avery whispered. "My mother makes peanut butter and jelly taste bad. Luckily, Sadie works from home a lot so I'm at their house with Christian and Alana most days and Sadie makes me dinner. If she doesn't, it's mom and it's not always edible."

"I believe that," Tommy assured her. "When she was almost 18, she tried to make me spaghetti and meatballs one night and it was disastrous. The sauce was burnt, the noodles weren't cooked, and the meatballs were like rocks."

Jude turned away from them. "I'm glad the two of you are bonding over my inability to cook an appropriate meal."

"Sorry," Tommy apologized. "I'm just trying to give Avery here some insight about who you used to be."

"Can you?" Avery asked excitedly. "She never tells me anything about before I was born and if you guys were as close as everyone says you were, you can tell me!"

Tommy glanced at Jude, who remained turned away from them. "I don't know, it's up to your mom."

"I can't stop what you do, Tommy," Jude pointed out. "If you want to tell her, tell her."

"Yes!" Avery cried. "I want to know everything."

Before he could start, Nic stuck her head out. "Jude, it's 6:30. You about ready?"

"Yes," Jude answered. "Let me grab my purse. She ushered Avery into the house in front of her. "Don't pester him, Av. He'll tell you what he wants to tell you and nothing more, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," Avery mumbled.

As Jude made her way towards her bedroom, a door in the upstairs hallway was ajar and upon looking in, she immediately knew it was Tommy's. For one thing, it was still clean and she knew Wally and Kyle's rooms were probably wrecks. Besides that, his infamous leather jacket was laying on the bed, along with his Jack Spade luggage.

"Yes, that's Tommy's room," Spiederman spoke up, causing her to jump. "It's the same room he's had his entire life."

She let out a sigh of relief. "You scared me, you jackass."

"Well, you're still a giant chicken," he teased back.

"Can you believe this house is yours now?" she wondered, walking down the hall to her own room. "Probably not something you ever imagined owning when we were fifteen, huh?"

"Definitely not," he laughed. "Once we found 620, I always imagined fixing that up and living there for the rest of my life. Speaking of, how's that place doing now?"

Jude ran her Mason Pearson brush through her hair quickly. "I own it still and rent it out to bands to practice. After everything we went through at that place, there was no way I'd ever sell it."

"Good to hear," he smiled. "Man, I miss that place. I mean, I love LA, and the music scene is awesome, but it's a lot to take in and Toronto was home for 24 years of my life."

"I couldn't leave," Jude shrugged. "Too many ties there."

"Not anymore," he pointed out. "Your sister and Jamie, that's it. Move to LA, or New York, or somewhere. I think everyone should get away for a while, even if they end up back where they started."

"But if I'm going to end up back where I started, why leave at all?" she wondered.

"Try new things," he replied. "How do you know you wouldn't like Manhattan or LA or even Miami?"

Jude sighed. "I can't be certain that I wouldn't, but Avery's grown up in Toronto and I don't want to take her away from everything she knows. Besides, once upon a time, I used to tour all over the world, so I've seen other places. I'm perfectly content in Canada."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered. "So, Nic wants to go to this place called Lola's and you'll love it."

"That's where Tommy said we should go," she remembered. "Must be pretty damn good."

"It is," Spiederman confirmed. "Best burgers I've ever had."

Jude eyed him. "Better than from the diner on Sixth and Alderson?"

"Oh, yeah," he breathed. "I forgot about those. Yeah, maybe those are better, but Lola's are a close second. I go there like, ten times every summer we're here."

"Have you guys been coming here every summer since you got married?" she asked.

Spiederman flopped down onto her bed. "Well, we met in January of '15, came that summer, got married in November, and have been back ever since. Wally and Kyle usually come, they only skipped out once, and Tommy comes most years, too. Darius, Portia, her husband, and Maya are always here."

"Do you think his ex-wife will be here?" she murmured, referring to Darius' ex and Maya's mother. "He says they're on more cordial terms now, especially since Maya's an adult, but things were really bad with them for a long time."

"No idea," he admitted. "We saw Portia and her husband, Tyson, last night and she said that most of this week's events will be the G-Major people, but the big party on Friday will be everyone who is anyone in the industry, plus old friends and family, so I guess we'll see."

"Well, I should go and meet your wife," Jude stated, slinging her L.A.M.B. tote over her shoulder. "Keep a good eye on my kid, would ya?"

"No promises," he joked. "You'll come back and she'll have a bull ring in her nose with four tattoos."

She rolled her eyes. "Sadly, I know my child would go along with that, completely."

When they got downstairs, Jude and Spiederman found quite a show. Avery was in the middle of a Nic/Tommy battle of words.

"Oh, grow up!" Nic yelled. "You're 40-year-old and you haven't had a serious relationship in fifteen years, Tommy! Fifteen! Why don't you just grow a pair and tell Jude you love her?"

"Nic, you have no idea what you're talking about!" he yelled back. "Once, yes, I was in love with Jude, but a lot of time has gone by and I've moved on."

Avery held up her hands. "White flags, Britney and K-Fed. This is not the time for a true test of sibling rivalry."

"Ha," Nic smirked. "She just called you 'K-Fed.' How do you feel about that?"

Without responding, Tommy stormed off, marched past Jude and Spiederman, and moments later, the sound of his door slamming could be heard.

"Ready?" Nic called out to Jude brightly. "Lola's is about ten minutes away."

"Good luck," Spiederman whispered. "I've seen Nic in her moods before. Hell, I've _put_ Nic into her moods before and they are not fun."

Jude sighed. "Can't be any worse than Sadie when she was pregnant."

"Then you don't know my wife," Spiederman muttered, going to stand by Avery. "Av, say good-bye to your mom; she might not return alive."

"If you don't, can I have your vinyl collection?" Avery questioned her mother. "You won't even let me touch it."

"Av, shut up," Jude replied, following Nic to the door. "And Spied? No tattoos!"


	6. Update

**So, gang, I'm thinking you can probably expect an update to this story by Thursday at the latest because after my history exam that morning, I'm free to write all day. The next chapter will include:**

_ -Nic and Jude at dinner, discussing Tommy, Jude, and Jude's career because of Tommy_

_-Tommy "babysitting" Avery and him telling her about Jude's career before she came along._

_-Maybe a little Spied/Nic action because even though this is my Jommy story, I do miss them in it. Sorry._

**Kisses,  
Charley **


	7. Chapter 5

Finally! I finished an update. This was a long one to write cause I basically had to sum up the first three years of Jude's career for Tommy to tell Avery. If somethings wrong with what I wrote, forgive me, but I wrote it late last night and I was losing my mind at that point. To everyone who reviews faithfully, even when I take like, a month to update, you totally rock and I adore you. And golfa chickie, Lee is all you. Haha. Kisses.

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.

"So, the last fifteen years of Tommy," Nic mused as she and Jude were seated in a booth at Lola's. "It's been a very interesting fifteen years."

Jude sipped her sweet tea and sat back. "Well, you can tell me whatever you want to tell me, but it's not that big of a deal."

Nic eyed her. "Jude, I know that we just met, but based on how often Spied and the boys talk about you, I feel like I've known you my entire life, so I know you're lying. According to them, and even to my brother, you and Tommy were always deeply connected and I know you're dying to hear what he's been up to."

"Well, I guess I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly curious," Jude admitted. "Maybe just a little bit?"

"That's what I thought," Nic smirked. "Well, he backpacked through Asia by himself for three months and when he came back, he settled into Manhattan. All of his stuff in Toronto was boxed up and shipped to his New York City loft and he's been there ever since."

"But why no relationships?" Jude wanted to know. "And it can't just be because of me."

"It can't?" Nic replied coolly. "Well, he was working a lot at G-Major in New York because it was a smaller branch and he was running it, so he never had time. Then, when Darius and Portia moved headquarters there, he just didn't like what he saw in the city. He'd been in love with you for so long that it was hard for him to move on. So, he continued drowning himself in his work and women weren't too thrilled with that. His longest relationship was short."

Jude sighed. "I feel sad for him that he couldn't find happiness."

"Oh, he found happiness," Nic assured her. "He found it eighteen years ago with a little red-headed girl carrying a guitar. I think you might even know her."

"Very funny," Jude said dryly. "If I made him so happy, why were we always so dysfunctional?"

"Cause Tommy had it rough through his late teens and early 20's," Nic explained. "He had to deal with Portia and Angie and Hunter; it was messy. When he met you, he didn't want to screw everything up, so he kept you at arm's length to protect you from his past."

"But I wanted to know all that stuff!" Jude stated. "I wanted to know about his past so I could be a part of his future."

"Trust me," Nic began, "he wanted that, too, but after everything, he just didn't think he could handle it."

Jude didn't know how to respond. "You know, I'm tired of that excuse. It was the same thing the entire time I knew him and it was always about him wanting to protect me and all this nonsense, but I've always been mature for my age and it's still just as irritating now as it was fifteen years ago. He spent, or spends, way too much time comparing the past to the present and that's his tragic flaw."

"If that's his tragic flaw, you're referring to Tom Quincy as a hero and he's anything but," Nic scoffed. "He has his heroic moments, but he is certainly not a full-fledged hero."

"For a while, I thought he was mine," Jude admitted. "That sounds ridiculously cheesy, I know, but it's the truth. The one thing I was always naïve about was your brother."

"And that your first album was any good," Nic added. "You wonder why it technically tanked on the charts but I don't. Your later albums were just so much better. If 'Skin' and 'Waste My Time' had been on _The Learning Curve_, your first album could've been shelved all together."

Jude gasped lightly. "Wow, thanks."

"I'm not saying the songs were horrible, but they weren't really you," Nic continued. "Too much pop, not enough girly angst."

"That's because most of the songs on my second and third albums were about your brother," Jude pointed out.

"So, how come you got divorced?" Nic asked. "You didn't love him?"

"I couldn't," Jude corrected. "He didn't appreciate my music the way I needed him to and that's a major part of my life. He always just said it was a little side hobby and that eventually, I'd find a real job. To him, music was just noise, but to me, it was life."

Nic smiled. "You should've married my brother. You should've gone to Thailand and married my brother."

"It wasn't that easy," Jude whispered. "I told you that."

"Do you ever wish you'd done it?" Nic wondered.

Jude looked away. "All the time. I don't regret anything, especially having Avery, but I wish I'd have been brave enough to give him a chance. After everything he did for me, he deserved it. Unfortunately, because he was living in his past, so I was I."

"Cowards live in the past," Nic recited. "If you live in the past, you die in the past."

"What's that?" Jude asked.

"A friend from college used to say that all the time," Nic replied. "Look, Jude, my brother still loves you, whether he'll admit it or not. I'm not stupid, I know you heard us arguing before we left. All you have to do it find it."

Avery was sitting at the island in Nic and Spiederman's house, watching Tommy fix her a pizza casserole for dinner.

"Tommy?" she said. "How come my mom never told me about you?"

He turned his back towards her and cooked the sausage. "I guess because the relationship I had with your mom was always very complicated. We started on rocky terms and we ended on rocky terms."

"So who fucked it up? You or her?" she wanted to know. "Oops. Please don't tell on me. Again."

"Usually, I did," he admitted. "I don't know if you've ever heard of the boy band Boyz Attack but I was one of the original members, so I obviously started with a bad rap in music. Your mom, a budding songwriter with a hatred for pop music, saw me as a washed up, know-nothing pretty boy with an obsession with himself. For the most part, she was right, except I knew a lot more than she expected."

"You were a Justin Timberlake?" Avery groaned. "Eww."

He laughed. "If that's what you want to call it, yes, I was. But, I quit when I wanted to take the group into a different direction and no one else did. So, I tried solo, but it got canned, and I had to settle for producing your mom. What I never expected was that it would be the best decision I'd ever make."

"I want to know everything," Avery told him.

"All right," he said, sitting down across from her. "She was best friends with Jamie back then and her first song, '24 Hours,' was about them, but by including him, she was weakening the song, so I made her re-write it. At first, she was upset, but she saw and heard how much better it was about just her, so that was her first single. As we wrote every song, we kept getting closer. That, of course, was before Shay came along."

"Shay?" Avery repeated. "S-to the-H-to the-A-to the-Y, Shay?"

"The very same," he confirmed. "He's Darius' nephew, which means he'll be here for the festivities, and he came to G-Major so I could produce a track for him. Back then, Darius was just Shay's manager and Georgia Bevans and EJ Li were running G-Major; they now run the LA branch. Anyways, at first, your mom was kind of turned off by him cause he was hip-hop and a diva, but he charmed her, like he charms every girl, and they started dating. I wasn't thrilled, because Shay was just like I'd once been meaning a womanizing player, but I let her do her thing and for the most part, kept my mouth shut."

"But he got married when he was young," Avery remembered. "And it wasn't to Mom, so that obviously didn't work out."

"To say the least," he smiled slightly. "On her 16th birthday, G-Major threw a huge party for her and he flew in from his tour to be there. Your mom was so excited and she wanted everything to be perfect, and it was, until he showed up. See, he had decided on tour that Eden Taylor, who was your mom's big rival back then, was better for his appearance and image because she was a pop star, so he started seeing her. Your mom was heartbroken and there was a lot of drama, and that was the first time I ever kissed her."

Avery grinned. "Really? How was that?"

"Maybe the single most greatest moment of my life," he answered honestly. "I never loved anyone the way I loved your mom, Avery, and that's the honest truth." He cleared his throat. "Back to the story. So, I knew it was wrong to be kissing her, even though it felt so right, so I told her she had to say it never happened or I couldn't work with anymore and after coercion, she said it. A few weeks later, I was dating your aunt Sadie and she was hiring the Spiederman Mind Explosion."

"You dated Sadie?" Avery cried. "Eww!"

"I'm sure she's told you of her first trip to Europe and I actually met up with her on that trip while your mom was on her first tour," he continued. "She was given the option of a club tour that I'd set up for her or a big arena tour with Shay, who had come back, because it was around this time she'd agreed to allow Darius Mills to manage her in return for getting him to give up my never-finished solo project, which is another story for another time. Luckily, she ended up going on the club tour and she also hooked up with Jamie Andrews just before she boarded her plane."

"That's so weird," Avery murmured. "Go on, continue."

"Right," he said. "So, your mom went on her tour and I went to Europe and we all met back up in Toronto at the end of the summer. And things at G-Major had drastically changed. Darius had taken over, Georgia and EJ were out, and we had Liam." Before he could explain Liam, the phone rang. "Hello?" he picked it up.

"Tommy, it's Lee," a female voice said on the other end. "Is your sister around?" Lee Murphy was Nic's financial advisor and even at just 32, she was much better than their parents' friends Nic had originally had. "It's about the investment she wants to make with Kitson."

"She's at dinner," he replied. "You want me to have her call you?"

Lee sighed. "No, I'm at the Hamptons airport as we speak so I'll just see her tomorrow at the yacht party."

"You're going to that?" he asked. "How? You don't even know Darius."

"No," Lee agreed, "but I know Wally."

"Oh, God," he muttered. "Okay, Lee, see you tomorrow," he said as he hung up.

"Who was that?" Avery wanted to know.

Tommy sat back down with her. "Lee Murphy is my sister's financial advisor, though you wouldn't know it if you saw her. She's very pretty, with long brown hair, brown eyes, and a natural tan that Nic hates her for cause Nic's is fake; don't tell I told you that. Anyways, she and Nic are actually very close friends and apparently, when they're in LA, Lee and Wally have a little something going on because Lee's here now and she'll be at the party with him tomorrow. So, back to my story. Liam Fenway had joined G-Major when Darius took over and he was a real jackass. He was Irish, but we thought he was secretly British, and he was a pompous jerk most of the time. But, he was named co-vice president along with me, so we had to deal with him. When your mom got back from the tour, she walked right into the second season of _Instant Star_ and since she ruined a party Darius threw, she had to perform on the finale and it was at this finale that she and Andrews split up. The next day, her hair was blonde, as it's been ever since."

"Sadie always said I had a reddish tint to my hair so I guess that's where it came from," Avery mumbled. "Go on."

"Jude's first album wasn't selling, so Darius and Liam decided to put her on a four month hiatus, which she didn't take too well. In an effort to save her career, she and Spiederman devised a plan to put a track on the internet for people to download, which they did like crazy. It was also around this time that we all met Patsy Sewer, a grunge goddess, that Jamie, who was now working as an A&R intern, wanted to sign. She was wild and got your mom arrested on their first night out together," he reported. "She was a real treat."

"Will she be at the party tomorrow?" Avery wondered innocently.

Tommy was momentarily silent. "No. You see, Patsy died in a car accident the next year, but I'll explain that later."

"Oh," Avery nodded. "Well, when the hell did my mom hook up with Spiederman?"

"It's next," he laughed. "Your mom was asked to design a jean jacket for Denim Jackets of Hope that year, along with the Spiederman Mind Explosion, and everyone was noticing that she and Spiederman were definitely getting closer. He had a massive crush on her, which Wally and Kyle knew about, but he was afraid to say anything. So, after a big fight, they finally hooked up and sent tabloids in a frenzy. But, like all of your mom's relationships, it fell apart around her seventeenth birthday, which was the night we got locked into 620, their rehearsal apartment, together. I loved your mom, and deep down, she loved me, and it was very clear that night. A few weeks later, when Darius said 'Anyone But You,' her and Vin's song, needed to be canned, she decided to slow it down to salvage her relationship, but instead, she chose to put 'White Lines,' a song about me, on the album instead. Consider her and Vin finished. When Darius decided he liked 'White Lines,' your mom kissed me one night in his office and things were a little awkward for the rest of the time we recorded, especially since Sadie was still hung up on our break-up and didn't like Jude's closeness with me. This is also when your grandmother decided to sell their house and marry Don, whom she disappeared to Europe with for a long time."

"Why didn't you and my mom get together then?" Avery questioned. "It was obvious you both wanted to."

"We did," he confirmed. "On the night before her album release party, at a show she was doing, I asked her on a real date. Unfortunately, Darius sent me away to retrieve his daughter, Maya, from her unfit mother, and I had to bail on Jude. I was so cold to her, telling her I didn't know when I'd be coming back, because I knew she'd attempt to go with me and I couldn't let her give up her career. So, the next night, instead of doing her album release, she drove to see Mason Fox, the second Instant Star, in Barrie, where she got drunk and had bad pictures of her taken by this guy, who then blackmailed her with them."

Avery's eyebrows shot up. "My mom was blackmailed? That's so rock and roll."

"No, it wasn't," he corrected. "When the guy sent them to her, he demanded $50,000 or they'd go to the press. Now, Darius was ready to pay him off, but Jude wouldn't let him. Instead, she released the pictures herself and managed to come out on top during a press conference she had to share with Karma, the latest Instant Star and all-around pain in everyone's ass. Except Spiederman, who really seemed to like the little R&B diva." He paused to catch his breath. "I was back by then, with Maya, and things between Jude and I were slightly strained for a while. Then, Patsy died in the car accident and everyone sort of came together in a better way, including me and your mom. So, we came up with this idea to make her third album better by recording it in different places for different effects, and since she was my co-producer now, it worked. We ended up at this church by the farmhouse her family had and we recorded 'Don't You Dare,' and we kissed and that was the first time your mother and I decided we were going to give being together a shot, even though she was seventeen. But, she was turning eighteen soon after, so we only had to keep it quiet for a little while. Unfortunately, this guy I had once been friends with, Hunter, rolled into town on the night of her big party and he was there to ruin my life."

"Why?" Avery breathed, completely entranced with the story of her mother's life.

"When I was younger, I was married to Portia, Darius' sister, which was the main reason he hated me for as long as he did," he told her. "But, the marriage was dumb and stupid and during the short time we were married, I met Angie, Hunter's sister. She was fun and understood me and I thought I loved her. But, Darius came to me and said if I continued my affair with Angie, he'd cut me off and my career would be over. Then, I was nineteen and fame meant everything to me, so I chose Portia and my career. What we didn't know was that Hunter knew I wasn't going to pick Angie, so he figured if I wasn't going to be with his sister, I wasn't going to be with anyone and he slashed the brakes on my car. He never expected Angie to freak out the night I had to end things, steal my car, and slam it into a tree, killing her immediately. He came after me and was sent to prison for five years. Anyways, he got out and met Jude, telling her he was a friend of mine, so she invited him to the party. There, he said he was going after the one thing I loved the most, in this case, your mother, so when she finished singing her version of the song I'd written for her, which was when we'd planned on telling everyone about us, I had to act cold and told her she was drunk and stupid. It broke her heart and mine. I then did get drunk, allowed Sadie to take me to the hotel room Kwest had gotten for himself and her, because they had started dating, and she was afraid she still had feelings for me, so Sadie kissed me just as Jude walked in to see what was going on. Instead, she ended things, Sadie realized she loved Kwest, and I was screwed. It took a while for her to start talking to me again, and when she did, it was just after her third album was finished, so I told her I loved her and I asked her to come to Thailand with me to backpack through Asia. She never showed up at the airport, I left, and up until this afternoon, I hadn't seen her since."

Avery was silent. She'd heard vague stories and rumors, but now she knew it all. The true rise of her mom's career. And it was a lot to take in. Shay, Tommy, Jamie, Tommy, Spiederman, Tommy. But, before she could say anything, the front door opened and Jude and Nic walked in, laughing closely together at something.

"Hey, guys," Jude smiled. "Oh, something smells good."

"Tommy must've made his pizza casserole," Nic spoke up.

"Call Lee," he remembered. "She's in town and wants to talk to you about your Kitson investment or something."

Nic nodded. "I'll call her soon. I take it she's going to stay here with Wally?"

"She didn't say," he replied, "but how long has her thing with Wally been going on?"

"A few months," Nic shrugged, pulling the oven door back slightly to check the food. "You can probably take this out now."

"Why didn't you go to Thailand, Mom?" Avery interrupted. "Tommy loved you, and you loved him, and you didn't go. That's retarded."

Jude glanced from Tommy to her daughter and back to Tommy. "Av, why don't you take a shower and then you and I will talk about what you and Tommy talked about, okay?"

"Fine," Avery grumbled, hopping down off her stool. "Will you bring me a plate of food, then?"

"Yeah," Jude agreed. "Hurry up and meet me in my room."

"Jude, I'm sorry," Tommy apologized after Avery was gone. "You said I could tell her and I guess once I started, it was hard for me to stop."

"It's fine," Jude assured him. "I knew I'd have to tell her someday, so maybe it's better you got it out of the way for me." She piled some of the casserole onto a plate, grabbed two forks, and walked up the stairs.

"Way to go, Romeo," Nic teased, eating straight from the dish. "So, Lee's here, huh?"

"Yes, your long-lost twin sister," he joked, referring to the striking resemblance between the two women. "But her and Wally? It's crazy."

"She's in love with him," Nic said. "It's not really. And I think he really likes her, too."

Tommy sighed. "Well, I think I'm going to bed for the night."

Nic looked at the clock on the stove. "Tommy, it's 9:30. Why don't you call up Kwest and the boys and go out or something? Speaking of, where is my husband?"

"Downstairs," he explained. "They've been playing Guitar Hero all night."

"They would," she scoffed, turning to head for the basement. "Hey, Tommy, can I give you some advice?"

He rolled his eyes, knowing it would be a bad idea. "What?"

"Don't give her the option again," she advised, heading down the basement steps. "Don't let her say no."


	8. Author's Note

Bad news. I'm stuck in both stories right now, so I don't really know when I'll have an update for either. Writer's block is killing me, and I apologize, but I don't want to just write crap. However, if you've been reading the stories and you have any ideas or anything you'd like to see happen in either, let me know and I'll try to incorporate your ideas in. That would be awesome. I love you all and I hope everyone has a happy holiday season.

Charley


	9. Chapter 6

If this isn't great, I apologize. It's just, I've felt so horrible for not updating recently that I wanted to get something going. The next chapter starts the actual birthday festivities and it's when it should get better, I hope. I want to thank everyone who still reads and who's starting to read. You're fabulous, but you know that. Review, actually, if you like it. Haha. Kisses.

* * *

"So, what do you want to know?" Jude asked her daughter as they sat on Jude's bed eating casserole and watching _Saved!_ on mute.

"Everything," Avery gushed. "Why'd you date Jamie? How come you broke Spiederman's heart? And most importantly, why in the hell didn't you go to Asia?"

"Mouth," Jude warned. "Well, I dated Jamie because it felt right then. He'd been there for me when both Shay and Tommy broke my heart and I thought he was the right guy for me. Turns out, I only ever really wanted him because he was dating my best friend, Kat Benton, and I didn't like that. But, I realized I couldn't be a good girlfriend to Jamie, so it ended, badly. We were on the rocks for a while, but he eventually came around."

"And Spiederman?" Avery implored. "Why'd you screw with him?"

Jude laughed lightly. "I didn't. I really did fall for Spied because he was goofy and cute and knew how I was feeling most of the time. The only problem with our relationship was that I never got over Tommy properly and after my seventeenth birthday, I knew it was practically over. Besides, he was the greatest best friend I've ever had." She sighed. "Asia. I guess I didn't go because I was terrified of Tom Quincy. He'd hurt me so many times before and I wasn't ready for that again, especially an overseas trip. What if we got into a big fight and I had to fly back? It wouldn't have been easy, so I took the safe route and stayed in Toronto. I regret it most days, even though I was lucky to have you, and I wonder what would've happened, but I can't live in the past anymore."

"Do you think you guys could ever work things out?" Avery wondered. "He'd make a good step-dad, I think."

"Really?" Jude smirked at her daughter's openness. "I'm not sure it's realistic. I haven't spoken to him in eighteen years and a lot has changed in that time."

"How do you know?" Avery said. "You haven't really talked to him yet much, so maybe absolutely nothing has changed and you're just too scared to find out?"

"Seriously, read _The Baby-Sitters Club _or something," Jude joked. "I'm sure he and I will talk at some point this week. I just don't know what it will be about yet."

"Don't let it pass you by, Mom," Avery advised as she turned the volume up on the movie. "You deserve to be happy again."

Down in the basement, Nic watched as her husband beat Wally at Guitar Hero while playing behind his head. She yawned loudly. "Can we pause the game and discuss why Lee is here, Wallace?"

"Cause I invited her," he answered, still playing furiously. "She's staying with some friends for the night, but she's moving here tomorrow."

Nic groaned and threw a pillow at Spiederman. "You're 33-year-old, Spied; give up the video games."

"It's just perfecting my art," he rationalized as he beat Wally for the millionth time. "Now, how was dinner with Jude?"

"Fine," she replied. "I really like her and I think getting her and Tommy back together won't be as hard as we thought it would be."

"Wait, what are you guys attempting to do?" Kyle asked, playing with a spare set of drum sticks he'd found in a corner. "How'd you decide to do that?"

"Avery," Spiederman admitted. "Earlier today, the three of us were down here and we were talking about her and Tommy and how Jude used to play 'White Lines' when Avery was little and she decided Jude still loved him and that she wanted to get them back together."

"She seems to be on the fast-track to being one of those kids who graduates college at like, fourteen and then will create a cure for cancer or something," Wally laughed. "Does anyone else see that?"

"Yeah, but without being completely weird and anti-social," Nic put in. "I think she just wants Jude to be happy and she thinks Tommy can do that."

Kyle shrugged. "Can't he?"

"Who knows?" Spiederman replied. "I always thought so, but they've managed to survive fifteen years apart."

"Speak for Jude," Nic interrupted. "There were times Tommy was barely getting by on his own. Love can do that to you."

"Do you feel like you're barely getting by when Spied isn't around?" Wally teased.

"I feel like part of me might be missing," she answered honestly. "I know, I know, that sounds ridiculous and I hate stupid stuff like that, but it's true."

Before anyone could make fun of her, her cell phone rang.

"Nic," Tommy said as soon as she answered. "Do you want to come watch _That Thing You Do _with me in the entertainment room? I need to talk to you."

"Sounds daunting," she mused. "I suppose I could tear myself away from these three for a while. I'll be up in a minute."

Spiederman pouted. "Ugh. Where are you going?"

"My brother needs me," she explained. "We're just going to watch a movie. Besides, I know you really want to keep playing this, so I won't stop you." She kissed him lightly and walked up through the house to the entertainment room, where she found Tommy setting up their mutual favorite movie.

"So, I really like Avery," he admitted once they were both seated on the couch. "She's a really smart kid."

Nic nodded. "She really is. She has a lot of all of you in her."

"How do you mean?" he wondered as the movie started.

"Well, she's about seventy-five percent my husband, with her mouth and her personality, but she's got some of you and Wally and Kyle in her, too," Nic explained. "She's an incredibly musician and she's smart and she can read people. You do that a lot. You read people fairly accurately."

He rolled his eyes. "If I read people accurately, I would've known fifteen years ago that Jude wasn't coming to Thailand as soon as I asked her and yet, I hoped she would. I would've been able to tell you were going to marry Spiederman the moment you met and yet, I flipped out when he asked if he could propose. I'm not a good people reader."

"I think you are," she shrugged. "Regardless, what else did you want to talk about?"

"What do you think?" he murmured. "How am I supposed to make it through this week, Nic? I can't stand to be around her without being _with_her."

Nic was caught off guard. She knew Tommy was still harboring feelings for Jude, they all did, but she never expected him to just admit it like this. "Wow. Do you think you can talk to her about it?"

"No," he said immediately. "I can't scare her; I've gone fifteen years without talking to her and I don't want to go another fifteen. She was my best friend for three years and she understood me more than any other person ever had. I can't just give that up again."

"Tommy," she breathed, "I'm impressed. You really do still love her, don't you?"

He knew he should've lied, because he knew Nic could use it against him in the future, but he couldn't. "I do. Fifteen years and I still love her."

"Tell her," Nic advised. "And I don't mean run down to her room right now and spring it on her, but you do have a full week to do it. Starting tomorrow at the yacht party, just get back into your element with her. Kwest said you all always made it seem so effortless."

"I don't know if I can," he admitted. "I'm 40-years-old now, Nic. I think my game might be a little rusty."

"Can I get that in writing?" she teased. "You're Little Tommy Q. You know no rust."

He yawned. "Trust me, I really do. I remember times when Saturday mornings meant Friday nights, when one supermodel brought on four more, and when alcohol was the gasoline to my car. But, those times have come and gone. I still sleep in, but not like I used to. I haven't dated a supermodel in nine years, and my alcohol consumption is considerably less."

"I won't tell," she promised. "I know I'm technically like 33, but I still feel 23."

"You still look 23," he added. "And looking that way without having any work done says something, especially out in La-La Land. The Paris Hiltons of the world, who aged terribly if you ask me, must be so jealous."

"Duh," she smirked, her infamous answer to everything. "Paris really isn't so bad. She went into the hotel business and got married to an NFL quarterback from Dallas. Her kids and Nicole Richie-Madden's are BFF, just like they were once upon a time."

"And when do you plan on children?" he wondered.

She eyed him like he was crazy. "Not now, that's for sure. I mean, we're sort of precarious with protection, cause it's not like we couldn't afford kids, but we're just not ready yet. He's still touring all the time, and I'm always on the road with them, playing their mother, so a baby would drastically change our lives."

"You're right," he agreed. "Then again, you usually are." He paused. "And don't 'duh' me, please."

"All right," she laughed. "So, who will be there tomorrow that you're most excited to see?"

"Probably Georgia and EJ," he decided. "I know they're doing their thing at the LA branch, so I'm sure you've seen them, but I haven't. You?"

Nic scoffed. "S-to the H-to the A-to the Y. I haven't seen him since my wedding six years ago. And even then, it was only for like, ten minutes. Darius told me he recently married Selita Ebanks who used to be a Victoria's Secret Angel."

"Oh, no," Tommy muttered. "Does that mean you'll be berating her tomorrow?"

"I don't do that!" she cried. "I just don't understand modeling. It's like, do you honestly need someone telling you you're gorgeous all the time? It's just a little self-centered if you ask me."

Tommy sighed. "She's a philanthropist now, though. You have that in common."

"That's about it," Nic interrupted. "She grew up poor and wanted to study law. I grew up rich and studied politics."

"How are law and politics that much different?" he questioned.

"Politicians create laws that slimy lawyers find ways around," Nic explained.

"Yeah, yeah," he mumbled. "You're so liberal."

"Thank you," she beamed. "So, how's work?"

He shrugged. "It's great. It's nice to still work with Mason, cause he's always a familiar face, but I like finding raw talent. I'm working with a band now and they're like four John Mayers put together. I think they'll be huge."

"I'm glad you still like what you do," she told him sincerely. "In the music industry, that's not always easy. That's why I tell Spied, Wally, and Kyle to be thankful they have each other all the time."

He glanced down at his baby sister, who was dressed in a white tank top and silk purple short shorts, and smirked. "Never in a million years did I expect you to marry Vin Spiederman and not only fall in love with him, but also his two crazy best friends."

"Technically, Kyle is _my_ best friend," she clarified. "Spied gets Wally and even after ten years, sill Jude. Kyle, however, is sometimes deeper than he lets on, so we get along better than you'd imagine."

"Of the two, I can say I'd see Kyle as the deep thinker over Wally," Tommy reported. "Wally lives like a five-year-old."

"Lee likes him," Nic pointed out. "And we both know how she is about her men."

He laughed. "Carefree and sometimes blinded?"

"I meant smart," she told him. "She never dates a guy she couldn't see herself with for at least two years, so he must have potential."

"Other than with music, I never thought I'd hear 'Wally' and 'potential' in the same sentence," he joked. "But, Lee's always been a smart girl, even though she grew up as one of your closest, and slightly craziest, friends."

Nic yawned. "I remember when that rapper came out and his name was Murphy Lee, that she wanted to sue him for rewording her name."

"He was more famous than she was," he pointed out. "She's not even famous, other than being mentioned in articles about you and where you're putting your money."

"I know," Nic nodded, "but she said if she decided to ever be famous, it would hurt her chances to have the backwards name of a soon-to-be has-been, which he now is."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "You two are definitely two of a kind, that's for sure."

"We are," she nodded. "I love her like a sister."

They sat in silence through most of the movie, as he hated movie talkers, and when it was over, he stood up and turned on the lights. "Well, I'm going to bed." He kissed the top of her head. "Good night, Nicola, and I'll see you bright and early for the bus to the marina."

Nic went back down to the basement and found the three boys passed out with_Dazed and Confused_ playing quietly on the big screen TV.

"Hey," she whispered into Spiederman's ear. "Do you want to stay here or come up to bed?"

Her husband sat up and tiredly rubbed his eyes. "Gee, sleep down here with Beavis and Butthead, who smell like potato chips and Heineken or up in a California king bed with you, who smells like vanilla and cotton candy? It's a toss-up but I think it falls in your favor."

"Funny guy," she smiled, grabbing his hands to pull him up from the floor. "You guys watch this movie, like, eight times a month. Find a new favorite. What happened to _Talladega Nights_? You three love that movie."

"This was on TV," he shrugged. "And we just didn't feel like getting up to put something else in." He stumbled over his Converse and led her up to the kitchen.

"Hey," Avery said from her seat at the island in the kitchen. "What are you two doing?"

Nic looked at the clock on the microwave. "Avery, it's 2:15. We have to be up at 8:00 to be ready for the bus."

The little girl spun a stray pen like a drum stick. "It's been decided I'm sort of an insomniac. I'll fall asleep at like, ten and wake up around one and won't go back to sleep until two-thirty or three."

"You can take medication for that," Spiederman told her.

"Spied!" Nic said, hitting him in the stomach. "That medication hooks kids and gives them a path to heavier stuff. Your ex-wife would know. She probably took something like that, or Ritalin, as a kid."

He scoffed. "Oh, good, let's bring up Karma."

"I'm not," she assured him. "I'm just saying, ridiculous drugs like something for sleep insomnia lead to addictions to cocaine, meth, and Vicodin."

"I know what all of those are and I'm not going to take them," Avery interrupted. "My doctor says it could be stress-related and that eventually, it'll pass." She drummed on the counter. "So, my mom was playing that song again."

"She played 'White Lines?'" Spiederman repeated. "What does that mean?"

"It means it's working," Avery grinned. "She hasn't played it since I was three, which was about the time she just gave up on men, so I think she's feeling something for Tommy."

Nic clapped excitedly. "Yay. Tomorrow will be really good because neither of them can run away on a boat. Plus, Portia's really good at fixing people up, so we'll have her help."

"Yeah, good," Spiederman said. "Umm, I'm wiped, so I'm going to bed." He kissed Nic's cheek, winked at Avery, and went upstairs.

"You should probably try to get to bed, too," Nic advised. "Good night, sweetie."

As Nic walked past Jude's bedroom, she heard the faint sound of a piano playing an all too familiar song. "She's right," she murmured. "It's working,." She smiled to herself and joined her husband in their bed.


	10. Updates

**So, just a little post to let everyone know I haven't completely given up on this story or _Model Behavior_. I'm in the process of reading over them to decide where I want to go next to make them as good as I can possibly make them. I can't give a time frame on updates cause as this point, I have no idea. I'm home from school on break right now, but once I go back, they should come more often than they have been lately. Thanks to everyone who hasn't given up on me. And if you can think of any funny costumes, I'm still taking suggestions for Jude's party in _Model_. Let me know. Hugs and Kisses.**

**charley **


	11. Chapter 7

**So, I'm sorry that it's kind of short, but the next chapter will be good and dramatic, I promise. I just don't know when I'll update cause it's vital to the story and I don't want to just give you crap to post something. I do like this chapter though, cause it's the first event of the week and it might even hint that all is not what it seems in some cases. Plus, you meet Lee who is a very dear character me (haha). I hope you enjoy and review cause that's why I love you all.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. **

"Where the hell is everyone?" Avery yawned the next morning as she sat in the kitchen with Jude and Tommy, eating breakfast.

"Sadie and Kwest already left for the yacht because Sadie agreed to help," Jude explained. "And I imagine Nic and the boys are still sleeping."

Tommy smirked into his second cup of coffee. "Portia will kill her. Nic thought the yacht was Wednesday and the brunch was today, but it's the opposite and she's way late."

"Then why don't you wake her up?" Avery wondered. "She's your sister."

"I know," he nodded. "But she's 34-years-old and needs to learn to grow up and wake up on her own."

"Cut her some slack," Jude advised. "She got her events mixed up and since we have one every day this week, it makes sense."

Before he could say anything else, Nic and Spiederman made their way downstairs, dressed and ready, but looking very tired.

"You do realize you agreed to help today, right?" Tommy asked his sister and she got a Diet Mountain Dew from the fridge. "Portia will probably murder you."

Nic rolled her eyes. "I talked to her last night. I agreed to help with the brunch and Sadie took over the yacht stuff. I'm not stupid, Quincy." She eyed him warily. "Don't respond to that."

Five minutes later, once Wally and Kyle had emerged from the rooms they were staying in, everyone walked outside and boarded the small bus that would drive them to the marina.

"I can't wait to meet Portia's husband," Jude admitted. "I keep forgetting she's even married until I receive e-mails from Portia Mills-Alexander."

"He's actually not what I expected at all," Nic reported as they all sat down. "I mean, she was married to Tommy, so you'd figure her type is pretty, hard-working, and a little high-strung, but Max is great. He's older, close to Darius' age actually, and attractive in that way. But he's a bank executive who works from home, so he's really laid-back and easy-going."

Tommy scoffed. "And I'm not?"

"Absolutely not," Nic confirmed. "But you're you and that's why we love-ish you."

"Gee, thanks," he said dryly. "God, I can't believe Old Man Mills is 50."

Spiederman laughed out loud. "Believe it, cause it'll be you in ten years, Squinty."

"Wow," Jude breathed. "You'll be 50."

"Don't rub it in," Tommy warned. "I'm trying not to think about it."

"She has no room to talk," Jude stated. "She'll be in her forties."

Nic held up a hand. "Jude, we just met. Do you really want to muck it up by talking about age?"

"Can I ask a question?" Avery interrupted.

"Shoot," Tommy nodded.

"Will Shay be there?" the young girl wondered.

Tommy gave Jude a look of confusion. "I'm sure he will. Why?"

"I just want to ask him what it's like to be has-been," Avery explained. "He hasn't had a hit record in five years, his last album barely sold 300,000 copies worldwide, and his label is on the verge of dropping him."

"He's on G-Major," Jude spoke up.

"I know," Avery said pointedly. "His own uncle wants to get rid of him cause he's not selling. I can't imagine what that must be like?"

"I like your kid more and more each day," Spiederman decided. "She really just has a 'fuck off' attitude that I think is great."

"You would," his wife smirked. "So, Thomas, I'm thrilled to see you've grown up from your fear of boats?"

"Nic," he said. "Let's not go there, eh?"

"Fear of boats?" Wally repeated. "You're afraid of boats?"

"Used to be," Tommy corrected. "Not since I was in Boyz Attack."

Nic eyed him. "When's the last time you were on one?"

"When he was in Boyz Attack," Kyle joked.

"That's probably right," Nic stated. "I mean, when have you had the opportunity to be on a boat?"

"Never," he admitted. "But that doesn't mean I'm still afraid. And I wasn't really afraid; I just got seasick."

"It was disgusting," Nic put in. "But, I'm shutting up now. So, Avery, I take it you're not a big Shay fan?"

Avery scoffed. "Hardly. Rap is not music. It's talking to a beat. Besides, he doesn't even write his own stuff."

"He used to," Tommy explained. "His first album was all him, then Darius took over and brought in these writers who'd done incredible work for other people but as time went on, it just wasn't working for Shay anymore. And he couldn't tell D no, so he went along with it, allowing his career to tank along the way."

"The only thing he has going for him anymore is that his wife used to be a Victoria's Secret Angel and that's nothing to brag about," Nic mused.

Spiederman rolled his eyes as the bus pulled up to the Royal Hampton to pick up Jamie. "Here she goes on a modeling rant."

"I won't rant," Nic promised. "I'd just like to state, for the record, that modeling is stupid. Was her self-esteem so low she needed to have people telling her how gorgeous she is all the time? It's actually sad and pathetic."

"People tell you you're gorgeous all the time," Spiederman stated.

"But I'm not paid for it," Nic reasoned. "I just look like this naturally."

Kyle gagged. "Eww. Someone find a muzzle."

"Ha ha," Nic sneered. "I'm not saying that Selita isn't a pretty girl, because she is; I just think her former profession is superficial."

"Isn't she into philanthropy now?" Wally wondered. "That's what Lee told me. It's also what you do."

"That's what Lee told you, huh?" Tommy cut in jokingly. "How are things with the Queen of Money Management?"

Wally shrugged. "Some days are better than others, but she's meeting me at the dock, so today must be good."

"Who's Lee?" Jude wondered.

"Lee Murphy is my financial advisor," Nic began. "I've known her my whole life, as her dad was our family's attorney, and we've always been good friends."

"They're practically twins," Tommy added. "It's almost scary how similar they look."

"Anyways," his younger sister went on, "I agreed for her to take over my money about two years ago, after she finished at the Harvard Business School, and that's how she initially met dear Wallace."

"Love at first sight?" Jude teased.

"Hardly," Spiederman scoffed. "Lee hated him at first. See, she's fun and outgoing, but she balances that well with organization and maturity. Wally has no balance. So to her, he was the complete opposite of everything she wanted in a guy."

"There's a line in the movie _Hitch_ that describes Lee almost perfectly: 'power suit, power tie, power steering.' Now, her suits are Dior, she rarely wears a tie- though when she does, it's adorable- and she's sort of a terrible driver, but it's the idea behind it. She's very career-oriented."

Jude was confused. "And she's dating Wally now?"

"Sorta," Wally confirmed. "Sometimes I call her my girlfriend, sometimes she's just Nic's friend. I told you, it depends."

"Well, don't you want it to be serious?" Jude continued. She missed pestering her boys about women. "You're thirty-three now, Wally, not eighteen. It's time to grow up and settle down."

"Why?" he replied. "Maybe I never want to be committed."

Nic rolled her eyes. "Lee will have him completely wrapped around her size five finger by August, you watch. I know her."

After picking up Jamie, who had a very heartfelt reunion with the band he originally managed, they made it to the pier.

"That's Lee," Nic whispered to Jude as they got off the bus and found a very pretty brunette in Ralph Lauren Bermuda shorts and a white tank top waiting for them. "Lee-Lee, looking fabulous."

Lee Murphy slid the stylus back into it's place of her BlackBerry Pearl and looked at the group from behind her oversized Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses. "I've been waiting here for fifteen minutes. Was I or wasn't I told 11:15?"

"That quote from_Hitch_ might describer her life, but clearly, _Little Miss Sunshine_ describes her," Nic joked as she led everyone to Darius' massive yacht, appropriately named _The Platinum_, after his favorite color.

"He should downsize," Lee mused. "It's too big for one man who rarely uses it."

"Lee, I know you're slightly bitter that we were late, but shut up," Nic advised. "Darius Mills is a very important person to every person here, other than maybe you, so just be quiet, drink his alcohol, and have a good time, all right?"

Lee clung to Wally's side and kept mum.

"There they are!" Darius boomed as they boarded the boat. "My favorite group of people, give or take Spiederman."

"Joke on me all you want, but you're fifty and I'm not," Spiederman shot back, shaking his old boss' hand. "Happy birthday, D."

"Thanks," Darius nodded, hugging all the girls and shaking the guys' hands. "Jamie, before you leave today, I'd like to talk to you about projection sales for the fall."

"No business!" Portia Mills-Alexander cried from up above them. "It's your birthday week, so business can wait until next Monday."

Darius rolled his eyes. "Pregnancy has made her bossy."

"Pregnancy?" Jude and Nic repeated simultaneously.

"You didn't know?" Darius realized, backing away. "Whoops. Tom, walk with me." He led Tommy away.

"You're pregnant?!" Nic screeched as Portia descended a flight of stairs to join them. "I've known you since I was ten and you didn't tell me?"

Portia made an apologetic face. "I;m not pregnant. I just want to be. Badly. And for a few weeks, I thought I was, but it was a false alarm."

She hugged her distant publicist/stylist. "It'll happen.Where's your husband? I'm excited to meet him."

"In the cabin with Liam," Portia reported. "Talking about football of all things."

"Liam Fenway talking about football?" Jamie said. "There's something I have to see to believe." He excused himself and walked away.

"Portia, this is Lee Murphy," Nic introduced. "She's my financial advisor and Wally's uhh, _friend_."

Portia eyed Wally and shook Lee's hand. "It's nice to meet you. You do good things with Nicola's money."

"Yeah, well, she pays me to do it," Lee stated. "You throw great parties."

"Thanks," Portia beamed. "So, Jude, do you want to meet Max?"

"Absolutely," Jude nodded, letting Portia lead her away. "Nic says he's amazing."

Portia smiled. "I can't believe I found him. When I was eighteen, I'd thought I'd hit the jackpot with Tommy, but Max makes me realize Tommy was pretty much hitting rock bottom. No offense, Tom's a much different guy then he was back then, I'm just saying, we weren't right."

Jude sighed. "Yeah, I know how that is."

"Wrong," Portia interrupted. "You two were textbook definition of 'right.' You just didn't know how to make it work properly."

"Okay, let's not worry about that," Jude stopped her. "I just want to meet Max."

"Max, sweetie, I want you to meet Jude Harrison," Portia introduced Jude to a man of about forty-eight with big brown eyes and a warm smile. "She's my number one."

Jude grinned and shook his hand. "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You, too," he assured her. "Portia and Darius talk of you nonstop."

"Miss Harrison," Liam Fenway, G-Major's onetime A&R rep, greeted her. "Nice to see you again."

"Liam," Jude said, shaking his hand, as well. "How are things in London?"

"Good," he answered. "Music scene's a bit different there, but I make it work."

"I'm sure," Jude replied. "Well, it's good that you like it."

He gave her a nod. "Thanks."

"So, you're still in Toronto, huh?" Max asked. "You must really like it there?"

"Well," Portia murmured, "she could've gone to Thailand years ago, which would've changed her life, but she didn't."

"Portia," Jude warned. "I'm comfortable in Toronto after all these years. You know, I'm thirty-three, I've got a nine-year-old daughter, and I'm settled. It's good for me."

Next to her, Portia shook her head sadly. Before blowing off Tommy, Jude had so much potential to be an international phenomenon but now, even though her albums were still going platinum, it was obvious to most she wasn't reaching her full potential.

"Hey, Ma, can I go swimming with Spied and Nic?" Avery called over to her.

"Yeah, but put on sunscreen!" Jude yelled after her as Avery scrambled to dive off the side of the yacht.

Max watched the young girl go. "So, that's Avery, right?"

"Uh-huh," Jude confirmed. "My little ball of crazy."

"Oh, you're lucky," he assured her. "Kids are a blessing."

"And yet, he doesn't want any," Portia whined. "He freaked when we thought I was pregnant."

"I'm old," he pointed out. "I'm going to be forty-ten in a few months and that's ancient to be have kids."

Portia rolled her eyes. "I want a baby."

"And I said I'd look into adoption," he replied. "I don't want to discuss it here."

Jude took the beginning of that argument as her cue to exit, so she made her way to the top deck, only to find Tommy all by himself, watching Avery with his sister and brother-in-law down below.

"Hey," she said tentatively.

He turned to face her. "Hi."

"Can I join you?" she wondered quietly.

"Sure," he agreed.

There was a long moment of silence before Tommy spoke again.

"Jude, I think we should talk."


	12. Chapter 8

**So, I've got this new arrangement for updating: I put the stories in order of how they come up in my 'Recent Documents' folder and write each one until it's done and then I move onto the next. Hopefully it works. If it does, you can expect a _Model Behavior_ update by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. I think this chapter is all right, but the next one should be good. I like the Avery/Shay interaction quite a bit. And the Jude/Tommy talk isn't fabulous, but there's definitely more to come, so have faith. To those who review, I know you have faith and for that, I adore you. Kisses.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. **

"About what?" Jude asked tentatively as she sat down on a lounge chair next to him.

"Us," he replied. "You know it's got to happen and I'd prefer it be sooner rather than later so I'm not walking on egg shells around you all week."

"Oh," she breathed, pulling her Ray-Bans aviator sunglasses down to cover her eyes. "All right."

He was quiet for a few minutes before he started. "I've moved on from everything that happened all those years ago, but seeing you brings it all back."

"It does?" she wondered. "Look, fifteen years ago, I was young and naïve and afraid."

"Afraid?" he repeated. "Of what?"

"You," she whispered. "You'd hurt me so many times before and I couldn't handle it again. I was only eighteen and had my heart broken too many times to count. It was exhausting."

Tommy looked at her. "I never meant to hurt you, Jude. I always thought I was protecting you."

"Contrary to what everyone seemed to think, I could handle myself, thanks," she reported. "I was stronger than you all thought. I mean, I survived_Instant Star_ at fifteen, my dad had an affair with his travel agent, my parents got divorced, my mother remarried her divorce lawyer, there was all the drama with you and Jamie and Shay and Spiederman. Look at me now, I'm fine. I made it out alive. You never had to protect me. Back then, all I wanted was for you to let me in."

"I know," he admitted. "It took me fifteen years, but I realize that now. I just went through a lot when I was young and I was never ready to let those walls down, I guess."

"I loved you," she told him, almost inaudibly. "I would've walked through Hell and back for you, Tom Quincy."

Again, he was silent. "I know. Back then, I was beginning to finally realize how selfish I'd been my entire life and I couldn't let you risk everything for me; it wasn't fair. I knew I was still a mess. I wasn't about to let you become one."

"Mom!" Avery called up. "Nic says to just kiss him already!"

Jude looked down at Nic, who immediately dunked herself underwater. "Nic thinks of herself as a bit of a Love Doctor, doesn't she?"

"She does," he confirmed. "She once tried to set me up with Lee, which was a disaster. I've seen that girl in diapers, so we ended up going to a bar and getting drunk. It was there that she admitted to having feelings for Wally."

"They're definitely an interesting couple," Jude stated. "I always imagined Wally with a younger Courtney Love, minus the drug addiction: a little crazy and a lot of fun. I'm not saying Lee's not fun, but from what I can tell, she needs to let her hair down some."

"Yeah," he agreed. "She's a good girl who's always lived in Nic's shadow and desperately wants out."

"I used to feel that way with Sadie," Jude told him. "She was the blonde princess with stellar grades and a perfect record. I was the fiery redhead with a bad attitude."

"And a chip on your shoulder," he added. "When we first met, you were so closed-minded to what I could do for you."

She scoffed. "Oh, like you were so excited to be working with me?! You called the entire contest 'whack,' if I remember correctly."

"It was," he pointed out. "I mean, it was a good stepping stone for your career, but you didn't need the publicity; you could've made it without the hype and bad press."

"Maybe," she shrugged. "Look, you're the one who wanted talk. Was it really about _Instant Star_ and the shadow your sister casts?"

"No," he responded. "Jude, I just don't want this week to be weird for us. Before all the Thailand-drama, we were incredible friends, for the most part. I want that back; I've wanted that back for fifteen years now."

"Me, too," she nodded. "Beyond Jamie and Spied, you were always there for me when I needed you, except the whole going-to-get-Maya deal, but I've stricken that from the record."

He stood up, as did she, and they hugged. And, in that moment, they both knew it wasn't over.

"I think we're making good progress," Spiederman noted from down below with Nic and Avery. "A hug is more action than we've seen yet."

"Mom never hugs," Avery reported. "Except Jamie and Kwest. Of all the bad dates she's been on, and even the two good ones, there was never a hug. Just a handshake."

"Hmm," Nic mused, treading steadily. "I think a date is just what they need."

Spiederman made a face. "The last date you set up with between him and Lee and look how that panned out. They fight more than ever now."

"Oh, she's practically another little sister for him," Nic waved off. "Today is this all day, tomorrow is golf for the guys and Portia's having the girls at Darius' house for lunch, Wednesday is brunch, Thursday is dinner at the lobster place he likes so much, Friday is the big dinner and party at his place, and Saturday we all leave. It's gotta be tomorrow or Wednesday if we want enough sparks to fly for him to go back to Toronto by Saturday."

"Golf?" Spiederman groaned. "That's not a sport. Well, it is, I guess, but not for me. Can't we do paint-ball or laser tag? How about putt-putt?"

"No," Nic said. "Golf and you'll like it. If you don't want to look like an idiot, Lee can take you tonight. She was a junior pro until we were 22."

Avery went under momentarily and came back up. "So, do you think Shay's here yet?"

"Probably," Nic confirmed. "If not, he'd be late and Darius will kill him."

"Sweet!" Avery cried, swimming to the ladder. "Time to meet him."

"Yeah, I'll come with," Nic decided. "I miss the old fool."

"I just want to meet Selita Ebanks," Spiederman admitted, causing Nic to kick him off the ladder behind her. "I was joking!"

Tommy and Jude were still on the top deck, talking and laughing, when Avery found them.

"Come on, Mom!" she whined. "Shay's here! I need you to introduce me."

"Can't your new best friend Spiederman do it?" Jude teased. "Or Nic?"

"Well, they went down to one of the cabin's to change about half an hour ago and they haven't come back yet," Avery explained. "I'm pretty sure they're not coming up for a while."

"Too much information," Tommy spoke up. "You really want to meet him? Come on." He led Avery and Jude down to the main deck and found the rapper and his ex-supermodel wife talking to Max, Portia, and Darius. "Shay-Shay, there's someone who would like to meet you."

"Damn, Quincy," Shay said, eyeing Avery. "I know you like 'em young, but seriously?"

Everyone laughed except Avery.

"That wasn't funny," she said. "I'm nine and he's old. Eww."

"Then who are you?" Shay wondered.

"I'm a lot of people," Avery explained. "I'm Jude's daughter, I'm Sadie and Kwest's niece, I'm Jamie's Goddaughter, I'm in seventh grade reading and math levels, and I'm a much more talented musician than you are or ever were."

"Ouch," Darius breathed. "You go girl."

Shay smirked. "More talented? How many Juno Awards do you have?"

"How many Grammys do you?" Avery shot back. "And having one Juno doesn't make you a big deal. Avril Lavigne used to win those and she was terrible."

"I love your daughter more and more every day," Spiederman whispered to Jude as he and Nic joined the group, both looking slightly ruffled.

"Of all the things you claimed to be," Shay began, "you're definitely Jude Harrison's daughter."

"I am," Avery confirmed. "So, why don't you write your own stuff anymore? My mom said you used to."

"She did?" Shay replied. "Well, I contribute on my stuff."

"Yeah, but that could mean you write like, one line," Avery pointed out. "Write it all."

"Your mom didn't always write all of her own songs," Shay reported. "No, she had Quincy to help her."

Avery shrugged. "She co-wrote and confirmed it all, though."

"Look, rap is different," Shay stated. "It's different rhymes and rhythms. And you've gotta have a story to tell."

"That's true," Avery agreed. "So you let people who had harder lives write your stuff because you were raised as the poor, little rich boy? That's convenient. All you do is talk to a beat. I could rap if I wanted to."

Jude places a hand on her daughter's should. "Shay Mills, this is my incredibly candid daughter, Avery Harrison. Avery, this is Shay. Be nice," she added to Avery.

"Shorty, I can take it," Shay assured Jude. "But you look good. You got a husband around here?"

"Divorced," Jude answered. "For about six years now."

"Sorry to hear that," Shay said. "Oh, Jude Harrison, this is my wife, Selita Ebanks-Mills. Selita, this is Jude Harrison."

"It's nice to meet you," Selita gushed, shaking Jude's hand. "Back when I was doing Victoria's Secret, we always listened to your music backstage. Everyone adored you."

Jude smiled. "Thanks."

"You should've married Nick Cannon when you had the chance," Avery muttered to Selita. "He doesn't rap anymore, thank God, but his film career finally took off. He's huge now."

"I'm happy where I'm at," Selita stated. "Shay's been good to me and our son."

"Son?" Jude repeated. "The Golden Boy has his own Golden Boy? Is he here?"

Shay pointed inside the main cabin. "Playing _Rock Band_ with your old band. He's ten and his name is Jordan."

"Can I go play, Mom?" Avery asked. "You adults are boring me now."

"Go on," Jude nodded. "But don't let Kyle and Wally give you any alcohol."

"Alcohol?" Darius said. "She drinks?"

"No," Jude shook her head, "but she would if she could."

Tommy looked down at his watch. "Twelve hours till you're fifty, old man."

"I still control your job," Darius warned. "And I've come to terms with turning fifty."

Max sighed. "I've got two years left and I'm already dreading it."

"Aww, sweetie," Portia grinned. "You know what would help? A baby."

"No!" Max snapped. "I'm not having any children."

Portia glared at him. "Why are you so adamant about that? All I want is a baby. All my friends have kids; they have for years."

"We can look into adoption when we're back in the city," he compromised.

"It's not that same," she muttered, walking away.

"Hey!" he cried, chasing after her. "Don't walk away when I'm talking to you."

Darius cleared his throat. "If I had a nickel for every time I've heard that conversation, I'd be rich."

"Seriously?" Nic scoffed. "You're already rich, baldy. But what's their deal? They always seem fine."

"Not lately," he told them. "Ever since they had about a month-long scare of her being pregnant, he's changed. He doesn't want kids, so when she told him she was pregnant, he flipped out, saying he wasn't ready and he didn't want to share her, and it would be too stressful. I don't know what's going to happen."

"I hope it works out," Jude mused. "When I told Tyler I was pregnant with Avery, he wasn't happy cause we were young and he was in school, but once she was born, he melted. They're not as connected anymore cause he's in Vancouver, but he calls weekly and she visits. It's healthy enough."

"I'm gonna go grab a drink," Tommy announced. "Anyone want anything?"

"I'll have a Sprite," Jude said as he walked off.

Avery was seated on a couch in the main cabin, watching Kyle and Wally play expertly on_Rock Band_ when Tommy walked in and went to the bar. She stood up and followed him over.

"How's your game?" he wondered, noticing her next to him.

"Good," she shrugged. "It sucks to play after those two cause they might as well have invented it they're so good."

He chuckled. "It's their job to be that good. They're not paid millions of dollars a year to be mediocre."

"Good point," she nodded. "Umm, Tommy, do you think I could talk to you?"

"Uhh, sure," he answered. "Here?"

"How about upstairs?" she suggested, leading him to the back steps that led to the uppermost deck.

He sat down on a lounge chair. "What's up?"

"Here's the deal," she began. "I want you to take my mom on a date."

"Whoa," he breathed. "I think that's pushing where your mother and I are at right now."

"Please," she scoffed. "My mom is in love with you, as you are with her; one of you just needs to take the plunge here."

"Look, Avery, you don't even know me," he reminded her. "Why do you want me to take her out so badly?"

Avery sat down next to him. "My mom hasn't seriously dated since she and my dad split. And she said they didn't split because of you or anything, and I was too young to remember the divorce, but I hear them fight on the phone now every once in a while and I've heard a 'Tommy' mentioned before, which I'm assuming is you. I think that she's always held a light for you, whether she'll admit it or not. I think you're a good guy. Nic and Spied both tell me so, and I already trust them. So, if that's the case, and you're a good guy, I want you to make my mom happy again."

"You think she's not happy?" he asked quietly.

"I know she's not," Avery corrected. "I live with her. Sure, she puts up a good front for me and all, so I don't worry, but she's sad. And you can fix that."

"I don't know," he admitted softly. "Yes, I think of your mother often, and I can't help but smile when I see her, but I think that might be a bad idea."

Avery shook her head. "Trust me, it's not. She'll say yes in a heartbeat."

Tommy looked out at the water for a long time before answering. "How's tomorrow night sound then?"

"Perfect," she smirked. "Just perfect."


	13. Chapter 9

**Not my best chapter, but this one is definitely moving along slower than I anticipated, so stay with me. Anyways, I was thinking about it last night and I'm going to start jumping around more to get things done because I don't want to spent a whole lot more time on this story so I can start working on something new. _Bart and Lisa_ is almost done, and _Model Behavior_ needs some love, so this one, while it's definitely my favorite, gets too much attention and I need to balance it more. I hope you still like it and I hope you still review. Kisses.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. **

"So, you and Tom?" Darius mused as he and Jude sat at the bar. "What's going on there?"

"I don't know," she shrugged truthfully. "It's like, I want us to be able to be friends, but I don't know if we can. I feel like there was so much build-up before he went to Asia and there's no going back for us."

Darius twirled his Scotch. "I think that you two are undeniable and there's nothing you can do to deny it. So, my advice is to either hook-up or nothing. He'll go back to New York, you go to Toronto, and things go back to what they've been for the last fifteen years."

"I don't want that," she told him. "I just want us to be adults about everything."

"It doesn't matter if you were the two most mature people on the planet, which you're not," he replied. "You'd still be Jude and Tom, so there's always something there. It's just how it works."

Jude sipped her martini. "If we had never met, then what?"

"Honestly?" he mused. "You'd find each other some other way I think. That's how Fate works, Jude."

"I don't think I believe in that," she admitted.

"Okay, now you sound like Nic," he teased. "She's gorgeous, but she's also the most cynical girl I've ever met in my life and I'm in the music industry."

"It's just hard," she finally stated. "And it always has been." She stood and walked away.

"So, Avery said your brother agreed to ask Jude out on a date," Spiederman said to Nic as they sat on a lounge chair on the main deck, watching the party. "For tomorrow night."

"Nice," she smirked. "You guys will golf, we'll lunch, and they'll date."

He pulled her closer to him. "How about we go on a date tomorrow night? Our last date was to Dairy Queen back in LA over three months ago."

"I could probably pencil you in," she teased. "You are my husband after all."

"This party is boring," Lee mused, sitting down on a chair across from them. "All Wally's doing is playing _Rock Band _and drinking."

Nic sat up and faced her close friend. "Lee-Lee, you really like him, don't you?"

"Sometimes," Lee shrugged. "And other times, I want to murder him. How can we get to a relationship if he's ignoring me half the time?"

"Why don't you talk to him?" Spiederman suggested. "Wally's a little oblivious to things that go on around him, so you have to practically shove it in his face for him to see it."

Lee pushed her sunglasses up on top of her head. "Why should I have to? If that's the case, doesn't that sort of mean he doesn't want it? I mean, if he did, he'd say something, wouldn't he?"

"No," Spiederman and Nic answered together.

"He's dumb," Nic continued. "I love Wally, I really do, but he hasn't been a relationship since this girl Jessica from their high school, so I think he's scared. He's afraid you don't show him enough for him to take that jump."

"Oh," Lee breathed. "I guess we've got some communicating to do before we progress, huh?"

"Definitely," Spiederman agreed. "Now, we have to golf tomorrow for Darius' Guys Day, and Nic mentioned that you were a junior pro, so would you like to take me out tonight so I don't look ridiculous tomorrow?"

"Sure," Lee nodded. "Getting the basics down won't be so hard. Besides, none of the guys I've seen around here today look any good."

"Max is," Nic said. "He used to play with Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els."

"Wow," Lee scoffed. "That's pretty impressive."

Nic sipped her apple martini. "I guess. I don't know much about golf except that Tiger Woods is still awesome."

"We'll go to Preston Oaks," Lee told him. "I used to play there when I was younger."

"Sure," he replied. "I don't know where it is but it sounds fine."

Tommy stood on the upper deck, pacing, waiting for Avery to bring Jude to him so he could ask her on the date. If it were fifteen, or even ten years, ago, he would've been completely confident she'd say yes; after all, he _was_ Little Tommy Q. Now, he was forty and it was Jude, who'd never really been enthralled by his persona, so it was nerve-wracking to prepare for. Before he could come up with something good to say, Avery and Jude appeared.

"Hey, Tommy," Avery greeted him, even though she'd set it up for them all to meet. "What's up?"

"Just needed to get away from everyone for a bit," he lied. "Darius is drinking a lot and he's gonna start telling old Boyz Attack stories here soon."

Jude laughed. "I'm sure he's got some really good ones."

"The best," he joked. "He knows the naked-in-Strawberry-Field story, so that could come up."

"Ouch," Jude breathed. "Well, we'll go if you want to be alone."

"No," he said quickly. "Uhh, I mean, stay."

Avery looked at her wrist as if she had a watch on. "Oh, look at the time! I have to, uhh, wash my hands." And with that, she took off down the stairs.

Jude eyed Tommy. "Were we set-up for something?"

"Maybe," he shrugged. "Your daughter is very sneaky."

"She is," Jude confirmed. "So, what has she set us up for this time?"

He took a deep breath and was silent for a few moments. "Have dinner with me tomorrow night."

"What?" she breathed. "That sounds suspiciously date-like, Quince."

"It is," he assured her. "I know you don't want to rush anything or whatever, but I can't help myself."

She was momentarily quiet as she looked out at the water. "I don't know if that's the best idea, Tommy."

"It can't hurt," he muttered. "Right?"

"I guess not," she admitted. "All right. Dinner, tomorrow night."

He smiled. "I'm glad you agreed, girl."

"Well, why not?" she shrugged. "It's not like we've never been on a date before, right?"

"Right," he nodded. "So, all right."

"Yeah," she murmured. "Umm, I'm gonna go talk to Sadie."

"Sure," he said, standing up. "I'll see you later."

"You were so nervous!" Avery teased, popping out from the back stairs that led to the upper deck. "Geez, I thought I was going to have to ask her for you."

He sat back down. "It's not easy between your mother and I; I already told you that."

"I know, but dang," she shook her head. "I never realized y'all had that much tension. I don't know if I could cut it with a knife."

"Please," he smirked. "That was nothing. If you'd been around back when she was seventeen, our dynamic would've given you a heart attack."

"If I were around then, she would've had me at eight," Avery pointed out. "She would've been a whore."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I doubt she'd like hearing you refer to her as that."

"How normal is it for an eight-year-old to have a baby?" she wondered. "It's not. Plus, my dad was three years older than here, so he'd have been eleven. Eww."

"Do you see your dad much?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I fly out to Vancouver a few times a year and he visits every once in a while but it's not a typical father-daughter relationship."

"What happened with him and your mom?" he went on.

"Well, she's a musician and he's a doctor," she replied. "That pretty much says it all but he didn't think her career choice was appropriate when she was twenty-seven years old, so they fought a lot about it and it ended in him moving to British Columbia."

He sighed. "Do wish they'd have stayed together?"

"What kid doesn't?" she responded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy I have my mom and Jamie and Sadie and Kwest, but I think every girl just needs a Dad, you know? I didn't learn how to ride a two-wheeler until last year cause Jamie was afraid to teach me until I was a little older. I don't know much about sports except for what I watch with Kwest and Christian at their house on occasion. It's just weird."

"Hey, I know," he assured her. "I wasn't exactly the Golden Child growing up, so me and my dad were never close. Nic was the smart, pretty girl they adored, even though she was actually a real bitch most of the time, so I was considered the black sheep. When I was kicked out of school in grade seven, I chose to never go back. Then, I met Chaz Blackburn, joined Boyz Attack, and stopped speaking to my parents for a really long time. It was pretty hard on my mom, cause she did always have a soft spot for me, but I had to do it to grow up. We're all right now, and I visit them a few times a year, but I wish my childhood would've been different."

"But if it had been different, your life now would be different," Avery wisely pointed out. "You might not have joined Boyz Attack, or have the success you have now, or know my mom."

"That's true," he nodded, "but my life would've been much more organized and less complicated. I wouldn't have spent my teen years resenting my sister or hating my parents."

"You resented Nic?" Avery repeated. "Why?"

He scoffed. "Cause she's Nic. She's beautiful and smart and knows how to work people. While she was brushing her hair, I was beating guys up at the playground. When she was a ten-year-old French prodigy, I was shaking my ass on stage for thousands of screaming girls. I hated that she was everything I wanted to be and it seemed like she wasn't even trying to do it."

"So you guys were my mom and Sadie in reverse order?" Avery realized. "My mom hated Sadie for all the same reasons up until she won _Instant Star_."

"And then Sadie resented your mother," Tommy filled in. "Trust me, I remember. Sadie had the opportunity to go to New York because she wanted to get away from Jude and make a name for herself without being in Jude's shadow. They were always pretty strained."

"Usually about you," Avery smirked. "Right? Jude had you, Sadie dated you, Jude stole you, Sadie kissed you, and you picked Jude? Sounds like massive sibling rivalry to me."

"Something like that," he replied. "Sadie, for me, was the beautiful blonde who fit the bill of everything I'd always dated. Jude was the ferocious redhead who was everything I'd never and then always wanted, all in one."

"Do you ever wish you'd have settled down and had kids?" Avery interrupted.

Tommy was caught off-guard. "I don't know. I always wanted kids, which no one believes, but I didn't want to just have them with some girl I didn't love. I wish it would've happened, but I guess I'm glad it didn't cause I haven't been in love since-,"

"My mom," she finished quietly. "Yeah, I know."

"Where's Avery?" Nic asked Jude when she found her a little while later, sitting on a couch in the main cabin, staring out at the water.

"I don't know," Jude told her. "I'd guess she's up top with your brother, but that's just a hunch."

"They get along pretty fabulously, huh?" Nic mused, sitting down on the couch's arm. "That's a good sign."

Jude shrugged. "I agreed to let him take me to dinner tomorrow. Is that a bad idea?"

"Not at all," Nic shook her head. "I think it's a good first step for you two."

"Nic," Jude warned. "I'm not looking for a relationship."

"I didn't say you were," Nic replied, standing up to walk away. "But you just might find one."

"If you're wondering whether or not she's always been that philosophical, the answer is yes," Shay informed Jude as he sat down next to her. "I've known her since I was six and she's always been wise beyond her years."

Jude laughed. "And her husband isn't wise enough _for_ his years."

"When I heard they were married, I expected to hear Tommy was in jail the next day for murder," Shay admitted. "I didn't know Vin back when you and I dated, but I met him a few times after and he seemed like an idiot."

"King of them," Jude explained. "But he's got a big heart and he loves her." She eyed him. "So you and the supermodel, huh? How'd that happen?"

"It wasn't supposed to," he chuckled. "I was set up on a blind date with Adriana Lima, who also did Victoria's Secret, and she took me to some industry party. The date wasn't going so well, so I was sitting outside and Selita came out and we hit it off. I ended up taking her home that night and never even said goodbye to Adriana."

"That's just like you," she remembered. "Always going for one girl before ending things with the other."

"Yeah, I guess so," he agreed. "At least it worked out for me this time." He paused and sipped his Corona. "So, what's the deal with you and Quincy these days?"

"Yesterday was the first time I'd seen him in fifteen years," she reported. "And it was pretty shocking how all those emotions and feelings I'd once had could just come back so fast."

Shay grinned. "Cause you love him."

"Lov_ed_," she corrected. "Past tense."

"Right," he teased. "You loved me once upon a time, too. Did those feelings come back?"

"No," she said, "cause you broke my heart."

He raised an eyebrow. "And Tom didn't like, a hundred times? Please. You love him. Admit it and just be together. It's not like anyone on this yacht wouldn't expect it."

"I'm getting a tattoo on my forehead that says, 'It's Not That Easy,'" she groaned. "No one understands what it's like to actually be in our situation, so you just tell us to be together. Do you not realize that it's been fifteen years? I've been married, had a child, and divorced in that time frame. I grew up a lot and I just don't think it's smart to try going back to the way things were with him because they were usually dysfunctional at best."

Shay held up his hands. "All right. I'm just saying, you wouldn't shock anyone."

"Mom!" Avery yelled. "Come on! We're gonna leave and go out to eat with Nic, Spied, Kyle, Wally, and Lee!"

Jude stood up. "I'm glad you're here, Shay. It's nice to see you."

He stood and hugged her. "You look good, Shorty. You always have."

As Jude allowed Avery to pull her down the ramp behind her ex-band and company, she felt someone watching her, so she looked back and locked eyes with Tommy, who was still on the top deck. He smiled and waved, as did she, and she walked away, knowing everything was about to change.


	14. Chapter 10

**Here it is, The Date. It might not be what you expected, but it has to happen slow if it's going to happen right. I mostly wanted to focus a lot on Avery's perception of what's happening cause it's just as important to her as it is to Jude and Tommy. Anyways, I've been writing on a roll lately, so I should have the next chapter of **_Model Behavior _**up sometime next week since I won't be around this weekend, and then this. I'm alternating to avoid neglect. Please read. If you like it, please review. That's my anti-drug.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. **

"Mother!" Avery screamed early Tuesday morning as she jumped on Jude's bed. "Wake up! We have to go to hang out with Portia and then hurry back for your date with Tommy!"

Jude raised an arm and knocked Avery's legs out from under her, causing her to fall to the floor. "Shut up."

"Come _on_," Avery whined, completely ignoring the fall. "It's 8:30, for crying out loud."

"Avery Justine, if you want to even live to see that date happen, you will go downstairs and let me wake up on my own time," Jude demanded. "Go bother Nic and Sadie."

Avery stuck her tongue out and left the room, sliding down the winding banister to the living room.

"My husband taught you that, didn't he?" Nic mused from her seat on the couch where she was working out details for the following day's brunch at Darius' mansion. "Of the three, he's the only one who still does it."

"Nah, I've been doing it at Sadie and Kwest's with Christian since I was six," Avery replied. "Jude will not wake up."

Sadie laughed and brought Nic a cup of coffee and a bottled water for Avery from the kitchen. "In all your years, have you not learned she's not a morning person?"

"I know," Avery whined, "but tonight is the big date and it _has_ to be perfect."

"Why are you so concerned with your mom and Tom?" Sadie wondered. "You've never cared before."

"I didn't know him before," the young girl pointed out. "I want my mom to be happy. Plus, he'd make a really cool step-dad."

Nic smiled. "Tell him that. Kids are so not his forte."

"He told me yesterday he did," Avery stated. "He said no one believes him but that the only reason he hasn't had any is because he didn't want to have them with a girl he didn't love."

"And he hasn't been in love since Jude," Nic filled in. "You know, I guess that makes sense."

"So," Avery sighed, "this date has to be perfect."

Sadie nodded. "You're right. I'll take over styling her tonight, Nic will deal with Tommy, and Avery, you'll be put on a very important assignment."

"Really?" Avery grinned mischievously. "What's that?"

"You'll spy," Nic decided, knowing that's where Sadie was going. "Yes. We'll find out where they're going and send you there with Spied and the boys."

"Okay," Avery agreed slowly, "but what if they go somewhere like, romantic. Why would we go there?"

"Won't happen," Sadie assured her. "Your mother is scared to death of this date so she'd never go anywhere romantic or with a mood. It'll be more casual." She paused. "You have to promise you'll keep your cool. We don't know how this date is going to go, so if you see it souring, you can't run over to fix things. I know you've gotten close to Tom these last few days, but it's really up to them now."

Avery bit her lip. "Fine. I promise not to interfere."

"Interfere with what?" Jude wondered as she finally made her way downstairs. "My life? Good."

"Ha!" Nic laughed out loud. "She's your daughter, Jude, which makes interring her job."

Jude rolled her eyes as she poured herself a large cup of coffee. "What time are we doing girls' day or whatever?"

"We're meeting Portia on Main Beach at 10:00," Sadie reported. "Have coffee, take a shower, and wear a suit that won't give you bad tan lines."

"Geez," Jude muttered. "What are you, my mother?"

"Close enough," Sadie shrugged. "Oh, Av, call Alana. She said she has information for you about what you called her about Saturday night."

Avery hurried upstairs. "Awesome!" she cried.

"That was odd," Nic said.

"It's Avery," Jude replied, as if that explained it all. "So, Main Beach?"

At 10:15, the three women and Avery, and also Lee, whom they picked up on the way, arrived at the most popular beach in the Hamptons, found Portia and Selita, and set up their stuff.

"What did Alana want?" Jude asked her daughter as she revealed her blue bandeau top and matching boy shorts. "What information did you want?"

"Nothing," Avery, in a red Speedo one-piece, lied. "I just missed the season finale of a show we like and she told me about it." In truth, Avery had called her cousin and filled her in on everything she'd found out about Jude and Tommy, asking her to look up whatever else she could find.

Nic, in a black Chanel string bikini, with the label's recognizable emblem splattered all over it, put on her classic Ray-Ban Wayfarers and settled into her lounge chair. "What show?"

"Uhh, _Cosmic Girl_," Avery responded, mentioning the first show that came to mind, about a teen superhero in space. "It's lame, but we like it."

"So does Kyle," Nic said. "It ended in April."

Avery could feel her face heating up. "Well, we missed the finale back then, and it hasn't been replayed since, so she told me all about it."

"Mm-hmm," Nic mused, not believing a word of the story. "Whatever you say, James Bond."

After a long day at the beach, they finally left at 3:30 and all but Portia headed back to the Quincy compound.

"Shower," Sadie demanded of Jude as soon as they were inside. "And while you're doing that, I'll pick you out something to wear tonight."

"In the meantime," Nic spoke up, "I'll call my brother and get time details and find out where you're going. That plays a big part in what you wear."

Jude groaned as Sadie led her upstairs. "I never should've agreed to this."

"You'll be happy you did once it all works out!" Avery called after her.

"She's sneaky," Lee told Nic as they stood in the kitchen while Avery played _Guitar Hero _on Spiederman's old Wii. "I'm impressed by how smart she is, too."

Nic nodded. "I know, right? I was like, academically smart at her age, but she's wise. There's a major difference."

"Definitely," Lee agreed. "What's up with this date? Tommy hasn't dated in years."

"Oh, you know the Jude Harrison-saga of his life," Nic replied. "This is what hopefully will be the first date of many for them for the rest of their lives. Avery wants a step-dad and she thinks my brother is perfect."

Lee snickered. "Yeah, right."

"They've already bonded intensely," Nic filled in. "It could happen."

At 7:00, Tommy emerged from his bedroom, wearing a Nic-approved outfit of jeans and white Polo shirt, ready to go.

"He's ready for you," Avery told her mom as she stood in the doorway of Jude's bedroom. "He looks nice."

"Really?" Jude breathed. "Well, how do _I _look?"

Avery grinned. Jude was wearing a black tank top, khaki skirt, and a pair of dressy sandals, which were clearly Sadie's. Her short hair was just grazing her neck and her makeup was subtle but perfect. "You look good, Ma."

"Thanks," Jude said. "Okay, I'm ready."

"She's coming," Avery reported to Tommy as she ran down ahead of her mom. "And she looks awesome."

"Really?" he replied as Jude stood at the top of the steps. "Oh, wow. Girl, you look beautiful."

Jude blushed. "Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself, Quincy."

He held out an arm. "Ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be," she confirmed. "Avery, be good for Nic and the guys."

"Yeah, yeah," Avery muttered, pushing them out the front door to his BMW x5. "Have a good time, kids."

"They gone?" Spiederman wondered as he, Wally, and Kyle emerged from the basement.

"Just left," Nic reported from her spot on the couch where was watching reruns of _Sex and the City. _"They went to Nio's, which is a casual place. Sort of like an Applebee's, but a little nicer. I recommend you three shower before you go."

Kyle made a face as he smelled his underarm. "You're probably right."

"Eww," Avery gagged. "Well, hurry up. This night could very well change my entire life."

While the boys showered and got ready, Avery sat on the bed in her room, looking down at the notes she'd made from what Alana had told her. Jude had fired Tommy a few times in their career together, reasons unknown. According to most tabloid articles, there was _always_ speculation about their relationship, but it was never officially public. She'd been dumped by Shay and the next day, everyone assumed it was because of Tommy. There were a few blips about the Spiederman relationship, but only that it crashed before it ever took off.

Just as she was closing the notebook, her cell phone rang, flashing her dad's number.

"Hello?" she answered. "I can't really talk, Dad."

"Where are you guys?" Tyler Cooper wondered. "I've been calling your house for days."

"The Hamptons," she explained. "Darius Mills is turning 50 and we came out for a week to celebrate."

He was momentarily quiet. "I assume Tom Quincy is there?"

"He is," she confirmed, smirking. While Avery did _love_ her dad, she didn't necessarily _like_ him a whole lot, especially after the divorce. "He's out with Mom right now."

"They're on a date?" he cried. "Well, I shouldn't be too surprised. She was always in love with him."

"Uh-huh," she murmured. "Look, Dad, I'm going to dinner with SME, so I really have to go."

"They've already brain-washed you?" he stated. "They certainly work fast."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded. "I'm not brain-washed by nobody."

"Anybody," he corrected. "And they've got you hanging out with her old friends, thinking a relationship with Quincy is a good idea, I'm sure. Avery, their lifestyle won't last; eventually, they'll realize music doesn't last and they'll have nothing to fall back on."

Avery rolled her eyes. "You're an idiot, Dad. Music matters more to me than anything. If you were here, instead of out in BC, you'd know and understand that." And before he could say anything else, she hung up.

"This place is nice," Jude noticed as she and Tommy were seated in a booth at Nio's, a local steak place. "Reminds me of Benedict," she added, referring to a place they used to frequent in Toronto when Darius took everyone out. "But airier."

"Well, you know Darius," he laughed. "He likes order and stuffy."

"Very true," she agreed, glad things weren't awkward.

"Welcome to Nio's," their young waiter greeted them. "Oh, wow. You're Jude Harrison and Tom Quincy. This is like a dream come true for me."

Jude grinned. "Hi."

"Umm, what can I get for you to drink?" he wondered, now getting nervous.

Tommy motioned for her to order first.

"Iced tea," she said.

"Corona with lime," Tommy put in.

She smirked as the waiter walked away. "Glad to see you still drink girly beer."

"It's not girly," he denied. "It's sweeter."

"Uh-huh," she mused. "So, how's New York? I miss Mason to death."

"It's fine," he replied. "I'm kind of bored with it, but it's treated me well these last fifteen years."

She looked out at the water. "Tommy, you could've come back to Toronto."

"No," he shook his head, "I couldn't. It wasn't you; it was just that I couldn't bare to be around you and work with you and not have you, Jude. I know, that sounds selfish and ridiculous, but it's the truth. I couldn't handle that."

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Not a day goes by that I don't wish I'd have gone, but I don't regret not going. Avery's the most important aspect of my life."

"I understand," he assured her. "You weren't ready for that. And that was my fault."

"Let's not," she interrupted. "Let's not ruin this with stories from the past. We've both grown up a lot in the last fifteen years, so we'll move on."

"Sounds good," he agreed. "So, Avery. Talk about a firecracker; she's more you than you."

Jude laughed. "That's for damn sure. I guess I needed her to be like that. I mean, once everyone was gone, I was left with Sadie, Kwest, and Jamie, who are all more business-oriented than Spiederman, Wally, Kyle, and even you, so I raised her to be the character I'd lost. She's musically gifted and smart and funny and bitchy and cynical. I love her."

"I can see that," he said softly. "And she looks at you like you can do no wrong."

"Well, she's definitely seen me at my worst," she admitted. "But never my finest, which is what she deserves because she thinks she has."

"Your finest?" he repeated. "What's that?"

"When you and I were making music," she whispered almost inaudibly. "For as much as I love my daughter, those three years were the happiest of my entire life, despite the downfalls."

He smiled. "Me, too. And the last fifteen without you have been the worst, no matter how successful I've gotten or how many Grammys I've won."

"I made a mistake not going to Thailand all those years ago," she murmured. "And while I'm scared that I'm setting myself up for heartbreak by saying this, I don't want to lose you again, Tommy."

"I know the feeling," he breathed, reaching over to gently take her hand. "I don't either."

"They're holding hands!" Avery squealed as she watched her mom and Tommy from behind a plant across the room. "And smiling at each other! They're so getting married."

"Calm down," Spiederman advised. "They're very fickle, those two. They might be holding hands and smiling tonight, but after she analyzes it to death tonight, your mom will wake up thinking she made a mistake and tell him they can just be friends. Trust me, I may not have been around for ten years, but I still know Jude Harrison like the back of my hand."

"Geez, way to kill a little girl's spirit," Kyle joked. "Av, if your mom and Tommy want it to work, they'll make it happen."

"Thank you," Avery said to him. "Nice to know someone is on my side, even though _you_agreed to help in the first place, Vin."

"So, thanks," Jude said as she and Tommy slowly walked to his car after dinner. "I'm glad we came."

"Me, too," he told her. "What are the chances of this happening again?"

"Another date? Well, there's a likely chance if you're ever in Toronto or if I visit New York," she answered. "Other than that, I don't know how it would work."

"Well, I've been thinking about coming home now," he explained. "This could be a good stepping stone."

She looked over at him. "Oh, umm. Really?"

"I know that voice," he said. "It's the classic Jude I-don't-think-that's-a-good-idea-but-am-too-afraid-to-say-anything voice. What's wrong?"

"Well," she started, "I enjoyed this date, and I'd like another, but I don't want you to move to Toronto for me, especially if we've only been out once and haven't really seen each other in fifteen years."

He scoffed. "I don't recall reading about when a diva took over your brain, but it's not because of you, though it could be a perk. I've finally readied myself to go back. New York is too much for me and I miss the original G-Major and Kwest. You heard me in there; I'm over the Manhattan music scene."

"I am _not_ a diva!" she cried, nudging him. "I just don't want you to move back, things not work out, and you be miserable or me be miserable."

"We'll manage," he replied. "Trust me."

Jude let out a long sigh and took his hand. "Think we're still famous enough for our picture to make tabloids tomorrow?" she wondered, nodding to a photographer across the street. "I mean, we're still famous, but is the topic of you and I together still juicy enough?"

"I'm sure Nic will find out on Perez Hilton's blog tomorrow," he smirked.

"He still does that thing?" Jude said. "Dang. That's been going since I was about seventeen."

Tommy unlocked the car. "He's still just as popular as he ever was. Nic adores him; they have coffee a few times a month in LA."

"They're in love!" Avery cheered happily as she raced into the house as soon as Spiederman parked his Jeep Wrangler. "Nic, Nic, it totally worked!"

"Shh!" Nic warned, emerging from the small library, her ear attached to the phone. "It's the Wicked Witch of the Seine."

"Her mother," Kyle filled in. "Their parents live in Paris."

"Hang up, hang up!" Spiederman demanded excitedly. "They're back."

"Ma, I'll talk to you later," Nic said quickly, hanging up the phone. "Come on."

"Pass," Wally decided. "This operation is strictly between you three." He and Kyle disappeared to the basement.

Spiederman, Avery, and Nic crowded at the window, peeking out from their knees, watching Tommy help Jude out of the car.

"Think they'll kiss?" Avery whispered.

"Not a chance," Spiederman answered. "Your mom would never let that happen."

Before Nic could give any input, Tommy leaned in and softly kissed Jude and to their surprise, she kissed back.

"Oh, my God," they all whispered in unison. "It worked."


	15. Chapter 11

**So it's a little shorter than usual, but I wanted to end it where I did so I wouldn't just ramble for a good place to stop. This chapter focuses mostly on Avery and Tommy and strengthening their bond. They've become my new favorite couple, haha. Anyways, I hope you all like it and if you do, review or something? That would be killer. And then, read something by **_golfa chickie_**; it'll be good for you. Her stories are as good as it gets around here. And also, I realize I make Avery sound smarter than the average nine-year-old, but I don't consider her average, so that's why she thinks and talks the way she does.  
**

"Uhh, hi, guys," Jude said when she walked into her bedroom and found Nic, Sadie, and Avery waiting on her bed. "How was your night?"

"Eh, so-so," Nic shrugged nonchalantly. "How was _your_ night?"

Jude rolled her eyes. "I figured that's what you all wanted. Well, he drove me, we had dinner, and he brought me back. Good times."

"Mom!" Avery groaned, tossing a pillow at her mother. "Details, please."

"Let me change," Jude sighed, kicking off the sandals. She disappeared into her bathroom and emerged a moment later in sweatpants and a tank top. "Okay, well, we went to Nio's, which was really nice, and we just sort of talked about everything. He said he wants to come back to Toronto and that he never came back after Asia because he didn't think he could handle working with me without _being_ with me, so he chose New York. He said he really likes you, Av, and that the last fifteen years have really sucked." She paused. "Then I said I didn't want to lose him again, and neither does he, so if the time is appropriate, we'd like another date."

"And it ended with a kiss," Avery filled in for Sadie. "We saw that part."

"Sneaks!" Jude cried. "I can't believe you'd spy."

Nic smirked. "Actually, it was my husband who spied first."

"Why am I not surprised?" Jude laughed softly. "He never was one for privacy."

"Try being married to him," Nic scoffed. "It only gets worse."

Sadie held up her hands. "Forget Spiederman for a second here. Are you and Tom like, together now?"

"No," Jude shook her head. "We're sort of dating, but it's not serious."

"Yet," Avery piped up. "It will be and you'll get married and I'll be in the wedding and we'll buy a big house in Toronto and Nic and Spied will visit with Wally and Kyle and we'll recreate your old life cause it's totally one I wish I'd have been a part of."

Sadie and Nic glanced at Jude.

"Avery," Jude breathed, kneeling down in front of her optimistic daughter. "All of that sounds very nice, but I don't want you getting your hopes up like that, okay? We went on one date and Tommy and I have _so_ much to work through before we even think of being in a serious relationship, let alone married. I'm afraid that if you build up this fantasy of what should happen, and it doesn't, you'll be heartbroken and neither I nor Tommy would want that."

"Oh," Avery whispered, sliding off the bed. "Yeah, I mean, that's dumb. Why would you and Tommy work out, right? You were always so dysfunctional to begin with." Before Jude could say another word, the nine-year-old ran out.

"Ouch," Nic murmured. "I could talk to her, if you want?"

"No, I'd better," Jude decided. "Thanks, though. I'll see you two in the morning for brunch."

Avery made her way all the way down to the beach, only to find it wasn't vacant. Sitting where she'd planned on venting to herself was none other than Tom Quincy himself.

"Crap," she muttered, turning to walk away.

"Hey!" he called after her. "Come back, you can sit."

She stopped, considered it, and went back to plop down next to him.

"Well?" he provoked. "What's your damage?"

"Nice, a _Heathers_ reference," she noted. "My mom is such a downer sometimes. It's like, the glass is so half-full and she's all, 'no, it's half-empty,' you know?"

He grinned, looking out at the water. "She sounds like me fifteen years ago. She'd come into the studio, so fresh and hopeful, but me, being the cynical realist at the time, shot her down real fast."

"Way to ruin her," she grumbled.

"What happened?" he asked.

"Sadie, Nic, and I were waiting in her room when you all got back, wanting to hear about the date, obviously," she explained. "So, she tells us about the junk you all talked about and whatever, and then she said you guys decided you didn't want to lose each other again and that if it's possible, you'd like to go on another date. She clarified that you're not serious, to which I said you weren't _yet_, and she gives this big speech on how I shouldn't get my hopes up and pretty much that the chances of you two working are slim to none with slim falling out of the race."

Tommy listened carefully. "Well, as much as I hate to say this, she has a point. Jude and I have had some pretty damn rough patches in our past; patches that won't be easily overlooked if we ever got serious, no matter how old we are now."

"Good to know you're still that cynical realist," she stated dryly. "Look, in case you've both forgotten, I'm a nine-year-old little kid, all right? I create elaborate schemes and stories and hope they work out. Isn't that what I'm supposed to do at this age?"

"I don't know," he admitted. "I was never a normal kid. I was practically in a gang, even in our upscale Montreal neighborhood, and I beat younger kids up for lunch money. I was a bully whereas I see you more as a pacifist. I got my dark outlook on life at a young age, but I would never wish it upon anyone. I'm sorry your mom feels that way, and you're right about being hopeful at nine, but I think you're her best friend. She sees you as someone to confide in."

"But that's _her_ fault!" Avery yelled angrily. "I didn't ask for that. I wasn't the one who told Spiederman and the guys to go to LA, or you to backpack through Asia and never come back, or Jamie to take on so much responsibility that he has no time for a social life. I didn't make my dad divorce her or tell Sadie to have time-consuming twins. The fact that she has no real best friend anymore is not my fault; we're not exactly Lorelei and Rory Gilmore."

Tommy felt awful for the girl. She was an optimist in a pessimist's world. "Why is it you want so badly for your mom and I to be together?"

"My dad called me tonight," she told him softly. "He didn't know we were here and when I said it was for Darius' birthday, he automatically assumed you were here. Then, when I said you two were going on a date, he didn't really even get mad or upset; he just scoffed and said he wasn't surprised and that she'd always been in love with you. While he is my father and I love him as such, Tyler Cooper is not a dad. Since he left when I was three, he never got around to teaching me anything, so pretty much everything I know, I learned from my mom or Jamie or Kwest. I don't _have_ a real dad, so when I met you and heard all the stories about you and my mom, I thought, 'maybe they'll get back together for good and I'll get a real dad out of the deal.' Apparently, thinking that was just stupid."

"It wasn't stupid," he assured her. "Maybe just too much. Even with your level of intelligence, you're still a little young to understand your mother and I. We're a special pair of people, that's for sure. You came here, looking for something you expected to immediately find and it doesn't work that way. You probably haven't ever really seen anyone fall in love, so you can't grasp the concept that it takes time. Life isn't a Disney movie."

"It should be," she mumbled. "It should be like _Casablanca_, where you were in love, but separated and then you find each other again."

"Except," he interrupted, "in _Casablanca_, Rick lets Ilsa go in the end."

"Not because he didn't love her," Avery shot back.

"But he knew she'd regret staying," he pointed out. "As he says, 'maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday.' Rick Blaine was no dummy."

Avery smiled half-heartedly. "I like that you've seen that movie, you know. It means you're cultured and you don't fit the mold of every other guy on the planet."

"I watched it for the first time with your mother," he remembered. "She thought it was just atrocious that at twenty-four, I'd never seen _Casablanca_, so we watched it. Then, as a tradition, every year on her birthday, I watch it. My favorite movie, though, is _Star Wars_."

"The original?" she wondered. "Eh, I'm more partial to _Return of the Jedi_. I like the Ewoks."

"No, no, no," he shook his head. "How realistic is it for little bears to save the galaxy?"

"And how realistic is that entire franchise?" she mused. "However, Hayden Christensen, while quite attractive, was a terrible Anakin Skywalker."

"Touché," he agreed. "Too pretty, not enough depth and intensity."

Jude watched from the window as her daughter bonded more and more with her ex-everything.

"You let her get the way she is," Nic stated, handing Jude a cup of coffee. "You let her sit with him for hours, talking about absolutely anything, and then you tell her not to get her hopes up. I might not know Avery that well yet, but I know my brother and he's in love with that little girl already, almost as if she were his own. You have to do something about it, one way or the other."

"Yeah," Jude nodded. "I know."

"My favorite movie?" Avery repeated outside, having just been asked by Tommy. "I guess _Saved!_ but I also like _Ferris Bueller's Day Off _and_ Almost Famous_ a lot."

"You're practically a Spiederman reincarnate," he noticed. "Well, his favorite movie is _Sid and Nancy_, though he thinks the portrayal of Johnny Rotten is way off, but he does like your top three quite a bit."

Avery looked up at him. "Do you ever miss being eighteen and shaking your ass in a white suit?"

"Not even for a second," he scoffed. "It was all right in making my name known, but it's not something I'm proud of. I spent six years of my life focusing more on dancing and image than I did on music, and I fell into the trap. I appreciate Boyz Attack as much as I can, but I wish I'd have taken a different route. Pop music isn't exactly my thing."

"Was my mom your favorite artist to work with?" she wanted to know.

"Hands down," he confirmed. "Since her, I've done freelance with a lot of great artists- John Mayer, Amy Winehouse, Madonna, Kanye West even- but I never connected with them the way I did with Jude. She was special; she still is."

The girl shrugged. "I wish she'd settle down though. And I don't remotely mean that she's wild and crazy or anything, but she's so focused on everything but herself that I feel awful for her. I just want her to be happy."

"I understand," he nodded. "And I would love to be the guy who can make her happy, but that's something we'll just have to see about. The ball is in her court."

Avery stared at him. "Is that like, a sports reference or something?"

"Do you live under a rock?" he joked. "Yes, it's a sports reference."

"I told you I don't know sports," she reminded him. "Music and clothes, that's what I know."

"So I've heard," he said. "So, what do you think of everyone? If you had to sum us all up in a word, who would be what out of me, Nic, Spiederman, Wally, and Kyle."

Avery thought about it before answering. "Wally's lazy, Kyle's calm, Spiederman is awesome, Nic is kick-ass, which I hyphenated, and you're perfect."

"No," he denied, "I'm definitely not perfect, Avery."

"For my mom you are," she corrected. "You only wanted one word."

"Sneaky," he teased. "That's to be determined because fifteen years ago, I was anything _but_ perfect for your mom."

"Yes, well, fifteen years was a long time ago," she told him. "Things are different now that you've been apart so long."

Tommy looked back at the house. "I think maybe you should go back now. Your mom's probably wondering where you are, since I'd imagine you didn't tell her you were coming out here."

"Yeah, I guess," she sighed, standing up and dusting herself off. "Thanks, Tommy, for talking to me."

"Anytime, kid," he replied as she started to walk away. "Anytime."


	16. Chapter 12

**Yay, an update! I actually am quite pleased with this chapter because it had a cute conversation between Avery and Nic, one I'd been hoping would make it in somehow and it did. It also features lovely chats between Jude and Tommy, though "lovely" might not be the best word to describe them, really. As always, reviews are my anti-drug and provide amazing insight. I love everyone and when you're done here, read something by **_golfa chickie. _**She really is fabulous, and her stories are, too.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

"Have you seen Avery this morning?" Jude asked Tommy when she joined him in the kitchen for coffee. "She went straight to her room last night after you two talked outside and I haven't seen her since."

He shook his head as he read the paper. "No idea. She's probably still sleeping, I guess."

"No, she isn't in her room," she murmured. "I'll just assume she's downstairs or something and find her in a little bit." She poured herself a cup. "So, what did you two talk about last night?"

"Nice try," he smirked, sipping his own coffee. "I wouldn't ask you about a personal conversation you and Avery had so you can't ask me."

"Right, but she's not your daughter," Jude pointed out. "As mine, I have the right to know."

"Wrong," he corrected. "She's my friend, meaning you _don't_ have to know. It wasn't anything bad; we just talked for a while."

Jude rolled her eyes. "Whatever. She's nine, so what could she say that's so important?"

Tommy was momentarily silent before he spoke again. "You have to stop treating her like an adult and remember that she's only nine-years-old. I know you want her to be your best friend, but she's just a kid; she can't be the emotional support you need all the time."

"Who are you to tell me how to handle my daughter?" she demanded. "We've done just fine without you, Quincy." 

"I'm not telling you anything," he replied. "She just worries that you're not happy and that you rely on her for too much sometimes and she can't deal with that pressure, that's all."

She slammed her hand on the counter. "I'm handling it!" 

"Fine," he backed off. "Whatever you say."

"Oh, I hate that and you know it," she told him. "You retreat even though you want to keep going and you sound like you're right and I'm crazy; you've always done that!"

"And you always get so defensive!" he shot back. "I guess some things really never change."

"Stop fighting!" Avery yelled, pushing open the basement door. "Just stop!"

"Avery," Jude said, her voice softening. "We're not fighting."

"Yes, you are!" Avery exclaimed. "And it's because of me. That's the last thing I want," she muttered, tears streaking down her face, as she ran out back.

Jude closed her eyes and let out a few deep breaths. "This can't keep happening with her. She overreacts and runs away."

"Well, look at her mother," Tommy said. 

"Her mother learned from the master," Jude snapped.

Before he could say anything else, Nic and Spiederman came downstairs. 

"Good morning," Nic yawned. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," Jude lied. "Spied, can you do me a favor?"

Her ex-guitarist nodded. "Sure."

"Can you book a flight for Avery and I back to Toronto as soon as we can go?" she requested. "I shouldn't have brought her here."

Nic's head shot up from over the refrigerator. "What? Why?"

"We just need to go," Jude decided. "It'll be for the best."

While Spiederman tried to talk her down from the decision, Nic slipped outside and found Avery seated around the pool, dangling her feet in the deep end. 

"Hey," Nic breathed, sitting down next to the nine-year-old. "What's up?"

"Oh, the usual," Avery shrugged. "Woke up, played a little _Guitar Hero_, heard my mom and Tommy fighting, came out to sunbathe. You?"

Nic grinned. "Nice try. Why were they fighting?"

"From what I could tell, it was about me," Avery admitted sadly. "I guess he said something about how she treats me like her best friend and that she shouldn't and she started saying he had no right to tell her how to raise me and it just went from there." 

"Oh," Nic nodded. "I can't say I ever had parents who treated me like their best friend; our parents saw Tommy and I as more pieces of property, either to show-off or hide. Clearly, our parents should've meshed and they'd be perfect."

"I just want a real family," Avery mumbled, almost inaudibly. "I want to wake up for breakfast and have _two _parents at the table. "My dad left when I was so little that I've never experienced that." 

Nic sighed. "I wish I knew what to tell you, Avery. I just think the best thing for you to do is not let their fighting get to you. They've got fifteen years of fights to get out, so it's going to take a while if they're going to get anywhere. And it's not about you, whether it sounds that way or not."

"Aren't we supposed to be at brunch in like, half an hour?" Avery realized.

"Nah," Nic shook her head. "Portia called fifteen minutes ago and said Darius isn't feeling well so it was cancelled. You can do that sort of stuff last minute when you're worth hundreds of millions, I guess."

"Shouldn't you tell everyone?" Avery wondered.

"Spied will," Nic shrugged. "Since we're off the hook for the day, do you wanna go parasailing with me and the guys?"

"Yes!" Avery cried, jumping up. "I'm gonna go get ready."

Jude was still talking to Spiederman when Avery ran back inside. "Hey, hey!" she called. "Come here a minute."

Avery slowed down and faced her mother. "What?"

"Sit," Jude requested, motioning to the stool between her and the guitarist. "We need to talk."

"All right," Avery agreed. "But can you hurry? I'm going parasailing with them."

Jude took a deep breath. "I'm afraid you can't."

"Ugh!" Avery groaned. "Why not?"

"We're booked for a flight home at 2:45," Jude reported. "So you need to pack up your stuff."

Avery was stunned. "You mean, we're leaving?"

"Yes," Jude confirmed. "I'm sorry and I know you don't understand, but it's just something we have to do."

"No," Avery denied, "it's something you think _you_ have to do. I'm not leaving. I'll come home on Saturday with Sadie, Kwest, and Jamie."

"That's not an option," Jude denied. "You're coming with me."

"Make me!" Avery threatened, jumping down and running upstairs, her bedroom door slamming moments later.

"She's right," Spiederman whispered. "Why do you think you have to run away now? You guys went on a date last night, one Nic said you described as 'perfect,' and one fight is going to ruin all of that? Dude, when are you going to stop being afraid of Tom Quincy?"

"Afraid?" she repeated. "I'm not afraid; I'm furious." 

He eyed her pointedly. "Dude, you're so scared of letting him back in. Well, you're thirty-three now and it's sort of time to grow up and either take a chance or go back to Toronto and wonder. Is that the life you want?"

"The life I want is a stable one," she responded. "Whether it involves Tommy, or any man, doesn't matter. I just want Avery to have a good life and be happy; that's it."

"And she wants the same for you," he told her. "For one minute, don't think about her and think about yourself. I always thought I was fine before Nic came along, that I could go on by myself. Then, I met her. At first, I only wanted to be involved with her to piss off Squinty, but after the third date, I was in love. Don't push him away for this morning before you've had the date that determines whether you guys are still in love."

"Still?" she repeated incredulously. "Have you forgotten that I was married?"

Spiederman rolled his eyes. "Yes, marriage automatically means that you stop loving the love of your life. Come on, you know that's crap."

Jude was quiet. For one of the first times she could remember, Spiederman was right. Fifteen years later, she was still scared of Tom Quincy, no matter how much either had changed. He'd shown multiple signs of emotional maturity in the last few days, especially in his bonding with Avery, but the marks he'd left on Jude's heart so long ago still hurt. 

"I don't know," she mumbled softly. "I guess I have a couple hours to decide." She stood up and walked outside and down to the beach.

Tommy, who'd gone to his room, came out a while later and found Kwest in the kitchen, making his specialty sandwiches. 

"Hey," Kwest nodded. "You want one?"

"Sure," Tommy nodded. "Turkey on wheat."

Kwest shook his head. "You've been eating that sandwich since we were fifteen-years-old."

"Hey, I'm a man of tradition," Tommy shrugged. "Where is everyone?"

"Avery is downstairs with Nic and the guys, Sadie is shopping with Portia and Maya, and I think Jude is still out back," Kwest replied. 

Tommy glanced at the clock on the oven that read 1:15. "Aren't they flying out at 2:45?"

"She said so," Kwest stated, "but she's been out there for over an hour, so I'm not sure." 

"Thanks," Tommy said as Kwest handed him his sandwich. "I think I'll go try talking to her." 

Jude was sitting on the beach, in almost the exact spot he and Avery had been the night before, her feet buried in the sand.

"Can I join you?" he wondered quietly, noticing her tense up at his request. 

"I guess," she shrugged. "It's technically your beach."

"Technically," he began, sitting down, "it's now my sister's, but no matter. Look, Jude, I just came out to apologize for this morning. Avery's not my daughter and I had no right to question your parenting of her."

Jude thought she noticed a flash of sadness in his eyes upon admitting her daughter wasn't his, as if he'd wished she were. "Then why'd you do it?"

"To be honest," he began, "because she's afraid to tell you that herself. She loves you, Jude, she really does, but sometimes, she wants a mom, not a best friend. That's all I was trying to communicate earlier. She doesn't want to hurt your feelings by telling you that she's still just a nine-year-old, whether she acts it or not."

"You're right," she agreed softly. "It's just, since the departure of everyone from the Toronto branch, I've been so lonely and she's the one constant. I mean, Sadie's great and so is Jamie, but they're always so busy with kids or work that they don't have time for social things very often."

"You miss Spiederman," he noticed. "Right?"

"And you," she added. "He was my guitarist and confidante and best friend. And you. You were my producer and my partner and my best friend and sort of my everything for over three years, Tommy. And then, in almost an instant, that was all gone." 

"Last night was nice," he said randomly, looking out at the water. "We burned some bridges and set fire to others. I think it would be ridiculous for one classic Jude-Tom argument to rebuild them. I meant everything I said last night. I miss you and Toronto and what we had. I know it was usually dysfunctional, but I want to try to fix that. I know it'll take more than a date or two, but I'm more than willing to do whatever it takes." He paused and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "What I'm trying to say here is: I don't want you to get on that plane today, girl. I want you to stay." 

She let out a long sigh. "Do you ever wonder if what we had just ran its course?"

"Never," he answered. "We never reached our full-potential." 

"That's true," she scoffed. "You were always finding some typical Tommy way to break my heart."

He winced at that. Still, after all these years, the worst he'd ever seen himself had been those typical Tommy moments she mentioned. He hated with every ounce of him those times he'd done that to her because it was always the last thing he wanted.

"But," she went on, "I'm beyond that now and so are you."

"You know all of that fate and destiny talk my sister claims to hate?" he asked. "That Darius mentioned you also hate? I believe in it. I believe that some loves are 'once in a lifetime' loves that no matter what happens after them, they can never be duplicated. I believe you and I had that." 

This caught Jude off-guard. First of all, Tom Quincy was admitting he was a romantic, something she'd never expected and second, he was calling her his one, great love, something she'd thought Angie had been long before her.

"What was Angie?" she had to know. "You were almost going to throw away your career for her."

"But I didn't," he pointed out. "For you, I would've ripped out my vocal chords. I would've told Darius to shove his binding contract where the sun didn't shine. It took me nearly five years after her death to realize I loved you more than I could've imagined loving her. And I'm sorry if this all overwhelms you right now; I just had to get it off my chest."

"Overwhelming is definitely the right word," she mumbled nervously. "Look, Tommy, I had a really great time with you last night and feelings I'd thought I buried resurfaced and while I'd like to explore them, you know I rarely run before I walk. Avery and I will stay in the Hamptons for the remainder of the week and when Saturday rolls around, you and I will see where we're at. Until then, no more of this 'once in a lifetime' love talk, all right? It throws me off a little."

"Agreed," he smiled. "So, since the brunch is cancelled and Avery wants to go with my sister and them, why don't you and I have lunch and maybe just walk around, taking in sights or shopping or whatever you want to do?"

Jude grinned. "Sure."

He stood, dusted himself off away from her, and held out a hand to help her up. Once she was inches from his face, he took a risk and kissed her softly, slightly surprised when she didn't reject him.

Avery, watching from a basement window, squealed and turned to Nic and SME. "Put on your bathing suits, guys, cause this girl's going parasailing!" 


	17. Chapter 13

**An update only days after **_Model Behavior. _**I know, I rock. Haha, just kidding. Anyways, this is sort of a filler chapter, I guess. The next one might be, too. They'll mostly involved the build-up of Jommy, Avery's excitement over it, and some Nic and Spiederman thrown into the mix. I hope you all like it and I hope you review, too. I do love that.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

"Why didn't anyone ever tell how nice the Hamptons was before?" Jude wondered as she and Tommy walked around town. "I mean, I've always heard stories about how it's for the rich and fabulous, but not from anyone I know and you vacationed here your whole life."

He shook his head. "Only until I was thirteen. By then, I was touring most summers and I only came here for performances or parties."

"True," she agreed. "I'm not usually much for the beach, mostly because I'm so fair-skinned, but I really like it here."

"You could buy a summer home here," he pointed out. "You've got more than enough money for something nice and on the beach. A lot of celebrities do it."

"Yeah, but I don't have time to spend an entire summer here," she admitted. "I'm always recording and Avery has camps."

"Camps?" Tommy interrupted. "You send her to camps? She's so not the camp-type."

Jude rolled her eyes. "Song-writing camps, music camps. Geez, Quincy, I would never force my child into something I so mocked when I was her age."

"Good to know," he noted, pulling back the door to Clips, an old-fashioned barber shop. "When I was a kid, my mother used to bring me here three times a summer to have my hair cut because it grew so quickly. And it was always the same lady, Clara, cutting it; she's owned this place for thirty-seven years.

"Thomas Dutois," an elderly woman greeted them, emerging from a back room. "You're all grown up. My, I haven't seen you since you were a teenager."

He walked over to hug her gently. "I knew I couldn't stay a week in the Hamptons without stopping by." He reached out for Jude's hand. "Clara, this is my good friend, Jude Harrison."

Clara looked Jude over with a smile as they shook hands. "Good _friend_, huh?"

"Yes," he said warningly. "You know, I came in cause I could use a cut but now that I think about it, I could always go to that new salon on Barnaby; I hear it's nice."

"You wouldn't dare!" Clara gasped. "You will sit in that chair, tell me what you've been up to for the last twenty years, and you'll enjoy every second of it. Jude, dear, you can have anything you'd like out of the refrigerator and join us."

Jude grabbed both her and Tommy bottled waters and sat down in the empty seat next to him. "So, Clara, you knew Tommy when he was little?"

"Oh, yes," Clara nodded, washing her hands. "He was such a little troublemaker, too. Nothing like his younger sister, Nicola; she was a little darling."

"Please," Tommy scoffed. "Nic is anything but 'darling' if you ask me. But, she got married about six years ago to a rock star and lives out in LA, usually touring with his band; her best friend is the band's drummer. No kids yet, but she claims she might have a couple before forty. My parents left her the house here and we're staying until Saturday for the weeklong celebration of my boss, Darius Mills."

"Oh, the music mogul," Clara nodded. "I read about that in the newspaper yesterday morning. Now, what have you been up to?"

"Well, I was in Toronto for a while at G-Major, which is where I met Jude, a musician, and at twenty-five, I backpacked through Asia for a while before settling down in Manhattan," he reported. "I've been there ever since but I may head back to Toronto this summer."

Clara glanced to Jude again. "Oh, really? Just because?"

Tommy caught on. "Yes. I'm restless in New York."

"Right," Clara teased. "Jude, tell me what you know about him."

"Oh," Jude said, looking up from the old issue of _People_ magazine she was reading. "Well, I met him when I was fifteen and immediately hated him because he was pop and I was a songwriter, so I thought we would clash, but we ended up working very well together. He was my producer for my first three albums and then he went to Asia and relocated to New York. This is actually the first time we've seen each other since he left."

This interested Clara. "How come?"

"I left on a weird note," Tommy admitted. "And we'll leave it at that, Miss Nosy."

Before Jude could say anything, her phone rang. "Sorry. It's Jamie." She excused herself and stepped outside.

"She's adorable, Tom," Clara told him. "She's the one, isn't she?"

"What are you talking about?" he replied.

She smirked. "I'm only sixty-five, boy; I'm not oblivious."

"Is it that obvious?" he sighed. "I've been in love with her for eighteen years, Clara. And she knows it. At one point, she loved me back but I'm just not sure if she does anymore."

"She does," Clara confirmed. "I could tell."

"Woman's intuition?" he guessed.

"Something like that," she joked. "Tom, you just have to go for it. Let her know how you feel and don't let her get away."

"I don't intend to," he assured her. "It's all up to her now."

The door opened and Jude returned. "Jamie just said that he was hanging out with Liam and Darius and that Max and Portia got into a huge fight about babies and she walked out and is at the house now."

"Oh, no," he muttered. "Where's Max?"

"He didn't say he left, so I assume at Darius' house still," she shrugged.

"You're all done," Clara announced, dusting off his neck and facing him to the mirror. "You like it?"

He nodded. "I always have, no matter how old I get." He handed her a hundred dollar bill. "Keep it. I'll try to stop by before I leave." He leaned down and kissed her cheek and led Jude, who said goodbye, out the door.

"I don't think Portia wants guys around," Jude stated. "Nic and them were back and she kicked out the guys, so it might be best for you to meet up with them at Darius' with Jamie."

"Sure," he agreed. "Well, you can take my car and I'll take a cab," he offered, handing her his keys.

Jude smiled and kissed him softly. "I'll call you when Portia waves her white flag."

Fifteen minutes later, Tommy was seated in Darius' spacious living room with Darius, Jamie, Kwest, Liam, the boys of SME, and Max, who was still ranting and raving.

"A baby!" he cried. "At my age. She's just being ridiculous."

"Dude," Spiederman interrupted. "At your age, if you keep going on like that, you'll have a heart attack."

Darius laughed lightly, as he still felt sick. "He's got a point, Max. Besides, she just really wants a baby, especially since she thought she was pregnant and was devastated when it was a false alarm."

"I know," Max said, "but I'm not having children. I said I'd consider adoption and you'd think I offered to snap her neck at the way she reacts."

"Chicks see adoption differently," Spiederman pointed out. "I've overheard Nic and Lee talking about kids and Lee says she wants three of her own- good luck, Wally- but Nic would much rather adopt. Of course, she has her standards there, but I think it's something we'll look into in the next few years, you know?"

"I think you should have kids, one way or the other," Tommy told him, breaking the silence he'd been in since he got there. "If you love her, and want to make her happy, you'll sacrifice for her."

"I did," Kwest confirmed. "I always liked the idea of being the fun uncle for Jude's kids or my brother's, but when Sadie wanted kids, it was something I knew she really wanted, so I agreed and I wouldn't give up Alana and Christian for anything in the world."

Max sat down on the marble coffee table. "But she's so stubborn and won't even listen to my argument. If we have a baby, she'll have to cut back at work and she loves her job. I don't think she understands how time-consuming kids are."

"Sure she does," Jamie jumped in. "I can remember when Avery was born and Jude was going through a lot because Tyler was always at the hospital, Portia would talk to her for hours, wanting to hear every detail. That was nine years ago, so I think kids are something she's been thinking about for a long time, man."

"Yeah, she brought it up before we were married," Max remembered. "I should've known it would eventually come up."

"So what are you going to do then?" Darius wondered. "My sister is an impatient woman; just ask her ex-husband."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "I wasn't around her enough to know, was I?"

"Oh, I love stories that happened when I was just a kid," Kyle joked. "It makes me feel young amongst men."

Kwest threw a pillow at him. "Seven years isn't so much, Drummer Boy."

"It's the difference between _Beverly Hills, 90210 _and _The OC_," Spiederman said. "Not that I watched it, but it's just a way to separate the generations."

"Right," Tommy smirked. "I can just see you, tuning into your TV every week, waiting to see what happens for Ryan and Marissa that episode."

"I'm a little worried you know character names," Wally replied. "A fan, Squinty?"

"Watch it," Tommy warned. "I have a hand in controlling your career."

"Uhh," Darius spoke up. "I believe I have the _final_ say, thanks." He coughed. "Now, Max, you need to call my sister, take her out to dinner, and discuss, rationally, what your plan is. The rest of you, get out so I can get better for tomorrow's dinner at the Lobster Hut."

"Ugh," Tommy groaned. "I hate that place."

"It's very cheesy," Darius told them all, "but I've loved it since I was a kid; that's how old it is."

"Ancient," Spiederman muttered as he, Wally, and Kyle stood up. "Come on, boys. I kinda miss my wife."

Wally groaned. "God, you're becoming one of those guys who can't be away from his wife for more than an hour before missing her. Gross."

"Get outta here," Darius commanded. "I don't need to hear wife stories."

Tommy lingered longer than everyone else.

"What's on your mind, T?" Darius wondered. "Let me guess, a certain ex-red head with a fiery daughter and a famous chip on her shoulder?"

"How'd you guess?" Tommy smirked. "It's hard, D. I'm at the point where casual dating isn't good enough; I'm forty-years-old and I want more."

Darius stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Would it be completely outrageous to really go back to Toronto to be with her, even risking another break-up?" Tommy asked.

"I don't think so," his boss and longtime mentor advised. "I think that if you two can find a way to finally make it work, this time for good, that it would last. Too much time has passed for multiple petty break-ups anymore."

Tommy sighed. "Yeah, I guess you have a point there. It's just, I think I made a mistake last night because I told her that I've always considered her my one, great love and I think she got a little scared. It's been fifteen years, but when I'm around her, I feel like I'm that twenty-two-year-old idiot who fell in love with her in the first place."

"It's just the effect she has on you," Darius reasoned. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, T. At this point, you just have to embrace it."

"Right," Tommy breathed as he stood up. "Hope you feel better and I guess we'll all see you tomorrow."

Back at Nic and Spiederman's house, Jude, Nic, and Avery were sitting in Nic's master bathroom, giving each other manicures and pedicures.

"So, how was your day date with my future step-father?" Avery wondered, choosing Chanel Black Satin for Nic's fingernails.

"Avery," Jude muttered. "It was nice. He got his haircut, so we went to Clips."

"Clara!" Nic gushed. "Isn't she just the sweetest lady? God, I love her."

Avery cleared her throat. "Anymore kissing?"

"Avery!" Jude exclaimed. "Where did you get to be so nosy?"

"Uhh, Sadie," Avery answered as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. "Duh. Anyways, go on."

Jude shook her head in disbelief. "Well, we were there when Jamie called and explained the Max and Portia crisis, so Clara finished up and we left and went our separate ways." She paused and eyed her daughter. "And yes, I kissed him."

"_You _kissed _him_?" Avery squealed. "Way to go, Mother!"

Spiederman stuck his head in. "Hello, ladies. Nicola, can I borrow you?"

"For what?" she whined, waving her hands and wiggling her toes. "My nails are wet."

He raised an eyebrow suggestively and glanced at Avery. "Would you really like me to explain in front of the child?"

"Eww!" Avery gagged. "Get outta here."

"I've gotten that a lot today," he realized. "Am I repulsive or something?"

"No comment," Jude teased.

"No," Nic assured him, blowing on her nails. "Give me two minutes and I'll be in. Oh. Jude and Avery should probably leave, huh?"

"Probably," he confirmed. "Unless you want an underage audience."

"No!" Avery exclaimed. "God, I might act a little older but I still don't want to hear about 'adult' things."

Tommy then appeared. "What's adult?"

"Nothing!" Nic said quickly. "Nothing you need to hear."

"Uh-huh," he mused. "Uhh, I was gonna grill out for dinner? Is that okay with everyone?"

Jude looked up at him. "You want any help?"

"Sure," he smiled. "I'll meet you out there."

Avery couldn't contain her excitement once the guys were gone and the door was shut. "You can't tell me not to get my hopes up when you two are doing so well."

"You can get them up a little," Jude said. "But quit with the marriage quips; that freaks me out."

Nic scoffed. "Why? You've already been there and done that."

Jude was momentarily quiet. "Not with him."

"And what's so special about him that Tyler or whatever didn't have?" Nic wanted to know.

"Everything," Jude whispered, a smile playing on her lips. "Everything is different."


	18. Chapter 14

**So, sadly, this story is now winding down. Two more chapters and an epilogue. But, I'd like everyone's opinions. Would you like the big, dramatic moment to happen before they leave the Hamptons or after? You decide. You should review, too; I like that and you know it.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

"This place is awesome," Avery squealed as Tommy led everyone from their house to their table on the back deck at the Lobster Hut.

"Says the nine-year-old," Tommy muttered. "No one over the age of twelve really likes the Lobster Hut."

"This place is _awesome_!" Spiederman cried as he, Wally, and Kyle walked around to explore. "Darius is a genius."

Jude laughed. "You can always count on those three to be childish."

"I guess," Tommy muttered as they found Darius, Maya, Portia, Max, Jamie, and Liam at a table waiting for them.

"It's like this place in the States," Lee noticed. "Joe's Crab Shack."

"Joe's used this place to design it's restaurants," Darius reported. "This is the original and it's the only one."

Once everyone was seated, Portia cleared her throat excitedly. "Max and I had a long talk last night and after some compromise, he's agreed to try for a baby for six months. If that doesn't work, we're going to adopt!"

"Yay!" Sadie cried. "Portia, that's great. Max, good for you."

He smiled and took his wife's hand. "Anything for her."

Nic glanced at Lee. "Hey, are you all right?"

"Not really," Lee mumbled. "Umm, can I talk to you in private, please?"

"Sure," Nic agreed, scooting her chair back. "Excuse us for a minute, guys."

Wally watched them go. "I wonder what that's all about?"

Once in the bathroom, Nic made sure no one else was in there, and locked the door. "What's up?"

"Umm, this is hard to say," Lee almost whispered, sitting down on the sink top. "I've been feeling really sick lately, just tired and nauseous, so I went to a doctor yesterday. Nic, I'm pregnant."

"What?!" Nic shrieked. "Does Wally know?"

"No," Lee snapped quickly. "We're not that serious, you know? Sometimes he's my boyfriend, sometimes he's just a guy I see occasionally."

"But you're in love with him," Nic stated plainly. "You said so yourself; you're just afraid to admit it first."

Lee looked down at her feet. "Yeah, that's true. He's just…unpredictable all the time. How am I supposed to know I can depend on him?"

"Lee," Nic said dryly, "I married the king of unpredictability and childishness. I can count on him more than any single person I know, except maybe my brother. Wally's a good guy. Yes, he drinks a little more than the other two do, but he's definitely into you enough to give it up. Mostly."

"Maybe," Lee laughed. "God, a kid. Am I ready for that?"

"You've been my surrogate mother since we were kids," Nic nodded. "You're responsible and like babies and smart. You'll be a great mother." She paused. "But you've gotta tell Wallace."

"I know," Lee sighed. "He deserves to know."

"Of the three of them, he most wants a baby," Nic told her as they left the bathroom. "Spied wants a two-year-old and Kyle wants a teenage son, but Wally actually wants to start from the beginning."

"Is everything okay?" Spiederman asked when the two girls sat back down. "You left so quickly."

"Umm, it's gonna be fine," Nic assured him. "You'll find out later."

"I'd like to make a toast," Tommy spoke up once everyone had been served their drinks. "I know many of us are not actually drinking, but whatever you have will suffice." He cleared his throat. "Darius Mills has done a lot for most of us here, minus Lee and Avery, so it's only right to celebrate his half-a-generation-old mark. He and I didn't always get along, but now, he's a close friend and an important mentor. I owe a lot to him. To Darius."

"To Darius," everyone murmured as they raised their glasses and drank.

Avery looked at Lee, who was seated across the table from her. "Are you all right? You look a little pale."

"Uhh, I'm fine," Lee answered quickly. "Just been a little under the weather from all the sun."

"Aren't you from LA?" Avery pointed out. "It's sunny most of the time there."

Wally nodded. "She's right; you've been a little weird for the last couple of days."

"I'm pregnant, all right?!" she shrieked. "Are you happy now, Wally? Is that how you wanted to find out?" Before he could answer, she stood and ran from the table.

"If you're not a complete idiot, you'll go after her," Nic advised.

"Right," Wally muttered, rushing after his girlfriend.

"Uhh, she's pregnant?" Kyle finally spoke. "Well, Wally is in for a total culture shock."

"Don't joke," Nic warned. "Lee was not prepared for a baby, nor was Wallace, so it's going to be very hard for them."

Portia smiled sadly. "At least they know they can have one. I'm getting older and will be less likely to produce."

"It'll happen," Jude assured her. "If you want it bad enough, it'll work out. I wanted Avery and I got her."

"And you've never been happier," Avery teased. "Right, Mother?"

"Yes, dear," Jude laughed. "Never been."

Later in the dinner, Nic looked in the direction Lee and Wally had run off in.

"They'll be okay," Spiederman assured her.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I'm afraid it might either scare her into not trusting him and dumping him or her freaking out and leaving her voluntarily."

"Since you seem to have forgotten," he began, "I've known Wally sine kindergarten and he wouldn't do that. Of the three of us, he was raised with the best manners, hands down. I didn't have a stable parental life and Kyle's dad was an editor for _Playboy _even though it's not distributed in Canada."

"I hope," she murmured, playing with the leftover crab on her plate.

When dinner was over and they got back to the house, Spiederman, Kyle, and Nic found Wally downstairs, nursing a beer.

"Dude," Kyle said. "Where's Lee-Lee?"

Wally shrugged. "Maybe upstairs, maybe at her hotel. We talked for about five seconds before she slapped me and climbed into a taxi."

"Wallace," Nic scolded. "She's losing her mind right now and you're idea of handling it is to get drunk?" She pulled out her BlackBerry and dialed Lee's cell phone.

"Hello?" Lee answered quietly, sniffling away tears.

"Hey, where are you?" Nic asked softly, turning away from the guys.

"Umm, my hotel," Lee reported. "I'm going back to LA."

Nic sighed. "Lee, don't do that yet. Let me come talk to you; I'll bring Wally."

"No!" Lee snapped. "I don't want to see him."

"At least let me then," Nic offered again. "You can't just leave yet."

Lee was momentarily silent. "Fine, but I make no promises."

Nic hung up and faced Wally. "Clean yourself up, assface, and get ready. We're going to see your girlfriend and you're not going to blow it because I'm illegally bringing you along."

"All right," Wally nodded, handing Kyle his beer. "Drink this; I'm gonna go brush my teeth and change and drink some water real fast, so give me five minutes."

Fifteen minutes later, Wally led Nic to Lee's room at the Metro Hampton Hotel.

"You wait out here," she whispered, pushing him out view for when Lee answered.

"Hi," Lee greeted her, pulling back the door. "Thanks for coming."

Nic walked in and sat down on Lee's king-size bed. "Lee, you have to talk to him. I know that you're freaking out right now, but so is he. And he doesn't know any details of what's going either."

"Me either!" Lee cried. "I'm only thirty-two here, Nicola. And I'm not exactly bred for babies, you know?"

"More so than I am," Nic pointed out. "And I know you have these weird ideas about Wally not being ready, but he admitted to us the other day that he really thinks you're the one and he's way into you. He didn't mention love, but it takes him a while, Lee."

"I only have nine months here, Nic," Lee said, pointing to her stomach. "And when my sister was pregnant, she started showing at like, three months; the doctor said I'm already two and a half."

"Lee," Nic said dryly, "Alana had triplets."

"It runs in the family then!" Lee cried.

Nic rolled her eyes. "It's a generational thing and it's incredibly rare for sisters to have multiples."

"How do you know that?" Lee wondered.

"I took a lot of biology classes freshmen and sophomore years at Stanford when I thought I wanted to be a plastic surgeon and that was something I learned," Nic shrugged.

Lee laughed. "Then you gave up and majored in English."

"I already speak it, so why not?" Nic joked. "I wrote very promising articles for _Vanity Fair _and _Vogue_, thank you very much."

"Like, four years ago," Lee scoffed.

"Philanthropy takes up quite a bit of my time," Nic pointed out. "And keeps you in your Dior pencil skirts, might I add."

"What am I going to do?" Lee breathed, sitting down next to Nic. "I know I told him irrationally, but I don't know how to handle it."

Nic took her close friend's hand. "Do you love him?"

"I think so," Lee whispered. "My parents fell in love after three days and were married in nine; to this day, they've been together for thirty-seven years. I've wanted that all my life, so I've always been quick to see good in people and I see good in Wally, even if he's not showing it to everyone."

"Then make things right!" Nic exclaimed. "Don't be mad, but he's out in the hallway."

Lee groaned. "I thought you might sneak him here."

"You know me so well," Nic laughed, walking to open the door. "Wallace, come in."

He sheepishly appeared around the corner. "Hey."

"Hi," Lee said quietly. "Uhh, Nic, you can go back; he'll take a cab."

Nic picked up her Betsey Johnson tote and walked out, winking at Wally as she shut the door behind her.

"I can't believe Lee is having a baby," Tommy said as he and Jude sat on the back deck, watching Avery fly a kite with Kyle and Spiederman. "She's like a second little sister to me."

"Would you rather it be Lee or Nic?" Jude wondered, leaning on his shoulder. "Probably Lee."

"Not really," he admitted. "While I think Lee is more capable of motherly duties than my sister is, Nic's at a better place for it. She's married and stable and secure. Lee has a good job, thanks to Nicola, but she's typically single and travels a lot. I don't know if that's the best environment for a kid."

"Avery was a baby when she went on her first tour," Jude reported. "And she's a normal child."

Tommy looked up to see Avery rolling around in the sand. "Define normal, girl."

"Well, she's not socially inept or intellectually slow," Jude pointed out. "I see that as a win for my parenting skills."

"Especially since you've done most of it on your own," he added. "Avery's a great kid, Jude. I really like her."

"Oh, she's definitely in love with you," Jude assured him. "I think that if you were to move back to Toronto, she'd be the happiest nine-year-old on the planet."

"Would you be the happiest thirty-three-year-old on the planet?" he wondered quietly.

"I would be a very happy one," she told him. "Maybe not the happiest, but quite happy."

He smiled. "That's all I need then."

"Hello," Nic said, joining them from inside the house. "What did I miss?"

"Just your husband getting tangled in Avery's kite and then Avery rolling around on the beach," Jude answered. "More importantly, how'd things go with Lee and Wally?"

"Well, he's still there and I'm not," Nic replied, sitting down on the ledge. "I think they'll be okay."

"I can't believe tomorrow is our last event before we leave Saturday morning," Jude murmured. "It's been so nice."

"It has," Tommy agreed.

"Well, we're staying another week," Nic told her, referring to her, Spiederman, Wally, and Kyle, "so you guys are welcome to stay with us. Lee probably will now, too."

"I think I should get back to G-Major," Jude decided. "I've got an eighth album to finish and Avery has camp."

"Camp?" Nic repeated, glancing down at Avery, who was now standing on Kyle's shoulders while Spiederman held her ankles. "She's exactly a cabins and canoes kind of girl though, is she?"

"Music camp, Nicola," Tommy said mockingly.

Jude rolled her eyes. "She likes going. It's a week every summer since she was six that I send her to people I know and trust while I have time to myself."

"And technically Darius," Tommy added, "because I know you're always working. I watch your progress." He paused. "But, as of July 30, I'll be taking over the Toronto branch while Jamie is sent to set-up Miami. I spoke with Darius about it this afternoon."

"Really?" Jude asked, unable to hide her excitement. "Why?"

"Well, while Jamie is doing a fine job, the Toronto branch is still our biggest moneymaker, thanks to you, and there's a lot Darius wants done there," Tommy explained. "Besides, he thinks it'll be good experience for Andrews to be in charge of starting a new branch."

"More news," Nic interrupted. "SME is coming back to G-Major. Epic has done them well, but they miss the familial atmosphere at G."

Jude squealed. "So everyone is coming home?"

"That's what we're saying," Tommy confirmed. "Are you okay with that?"

"Are you kidding?" Jude laughed. "I'm _great_ with that." She stood up. "Avery, guess what?"

The nine-year-old looked towards her mother. "What?"

"Our G-Major family is about to get a lot bigger!" Jude yelled.

Avery rolled her eyes. "Duh! Spied told me they were coming back last night!"

"Did Tommy?" Jude demanded.

"No!" Avery screamed, dropping her kite to run towards them. She stood in front of Tommy. "You're coming back, too?"

He nodded. "Yep."

Avery side-bumped Jude. "Score one for Fate."

"Maybe you're right," Jude mused, looking at everyone around her. "It'll be good to have you all back."

"Duh, Dude," Spiederman said as he and Kyle walked up the steps. "Toronto is home and that's where the heart is."

Nic rolled her eyes. "You and your Natalie Portman movies."


	19. READ THIS, PLEASE

I should have an actual update on this story by Tuesday, or Wednesday at the latest, so if you're reading because you thought there was a new chapter, sorry to disappoint but i'd still love your input. Anyways, I decided there's no way I can only write one story at a time cause if I get blocked on one, I won't have anywhere else to go. So, I'm going to work on something else other than _**Fourth Quarter **_once I finish _**Back From the Dead.**_ I've contemplated a sequel, but I'm not ready for that yet, if I even do one. However, I do have a few ideas floating around so I thought I'd ask readers what they would prefer:

1. Jude and Tommy are getting married; it's two years after season three and Georgia took over G-Major with EJ to keep it from going under; it starts the night before the wedding at the rehearsal and it's Jude's first time meeting Tommy's jet-setting younger sister, Nic; Nic never stays in one place for more than a couple months and by Sunday after the wedding, she's ready to leave when she falls down some stairs at her hotel and breaks her leg, causing Tommy to demand she stay with them for two months while she heals; Spiederman, who's unhappily married to Karma, meets her at the rehearsal and they strike up an interesting "bond" that lasts throughout her two-month stay; drama ensues with his marriage and also Jude and Tommy's

2. Set four years after season three finale, Jude and Tommy were married but are now divorced and pretty much hate each other; SME boys moved to LA branch of G-Major and Spiederman has a new girlfriend, Nic, but has no idea she's Tommy's sister because it's a new relationship; they decide to go on vacation to her family's villa in (insert vacation spot here; still undecided, but tropical); he knows Jude's been sad and depressed, so he invites her, while Nic, who doesn't know about Jude, invites Tommy to cheer him up; it sounds a little like _Since When is Divorce So Cool?_ but i promise, it won't be so much; will revolve around Jude and Tommy's failed marriage and Nic lying about her identity to Spiederman

3. Begins with a funeral and you don't find out who's died until the end of the first chapter, but you'll know it's either Jamie or Tommy; Jude is completely devastated, as he was the love of her life, but the other guy returns from being away and jumps back into the role he used to play for her; they're very tentative around each other, as it's been a while, though he left on good terms, and they have to get used to each other again; they're trapped in G-Major one night when Darius decides to have the locks changed and thought they'd gone home; i've sort of been wanting to write a "Jade," so this could be my chance

All you have to do in a review is let me know the number of the story you'd prefer I work on, including any ideas you might have, or characters you'd like to see with a storyline, or even where you'd like the plot to go. Anything helps. Thanks.

**Charley...**


	20. Chapter 15

**One more chapter after this one. I'm really sad it's ending, especially since Avery has been so much fun to write, but I think I'll leave it open for a sequel somewhere down the line. Maybe I'll write her as a teenager; wouldn't that be fun, considering she'll now grow up around the SME boys? Anyways, thanks to everyone who gave opinions for what story I should write next; I got more reviews for that than any other single chapter ever. I've decided to go with story number one because I've already started it and I like where it's going. As always, read and review; it makes me happy.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

"I'm so sad we're leaving tomorrow," Avery whined at breakfast Friday morning. She was seated at the dining room table between Wally and Kyle, waiting for Jude and Sadie to bring out the large meal they'd made for everyone on the last day they'd all be together. "But I'm super pumped you're all coming back to Toronto!"

Wally yawned and covered his ears. "Be quiet, please."

"He's hungover," Kyle whispered in her ears. "Even the most normal voices sound loud to him."

"Oh," Avery replied. "Sorry, Wally."

The bassist removed his hands. "It's okay. By noon, I'll be okay."

"Okay, everyone, we worked really hard all morning on this food, so you will eat it all," Sadie demanded as she and Jude started carrying in trays upon trays of food, including eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, hash browns, biscuits, and pastries. "And Jude didn't cook too much, so it should be all right."

"Hey!" Jude cried. "I've learned." Avery cleared her throat. "Sort of."

"She does make a killer grilled cheese," Avery offered. "But that's not really very hard now, is it?"

"It used to be," Tommy reported. "I let her cook for me once, on my twenty-fourth birthday, and the smoke alarms went off because she burnt the macaroni and cheese and the grilled cheese weren't done."

Jude scoffed. "Well, anyone else have any stories they'd like to share about me?"

"How much time do we have?" Spiederman teased, dodging a biscuit she threw at him. "I'm just saying, you were fun to grow up with."

"Uh-huh," Jude muttered, sitting down in her seat. "You can all go to Hell."

Tommy softly rubbed her back. "I'm sure the food, no matter who made it, will be great."

"Says the guy who just wants to get in her pants," Spiederman added.

"VINCENT!" Jude yelled. "Not in front of my child!"

Nic rolled her eyes as she grabbed two pastries and a slice of bacon. "Jude, Avery's an incredibly smart kid and I'm sure she knows about the birds and the bees."

"Christian and Alana told me last year," Avery filled in.

Sadie gasped and glanced at Kwest. "That's what you get for letting them watch her while I'm working and you decide to go work-out."

"This is so humiliating," Jude mumbled. "My daughter knows about sex and she's nine."

"I had it at eleven," Kyle spoke up. "With Riley Davis."

"No way!" Nic cried. "You never told me that, jackass. Eleven? I was a popular girl and even I waited until seventeen."

Tommy waved his hands. "We are _not _having this conversation at the breakfast table with Avery present."

"Oh, come on!" Avery complained. "I'm mature, I can handle it. Mom, what about you? Was it Dad?"

Jude sighed. Their last breakfast was definitely not going as she'd planned. "No. I was nineteen and dating this guy-"

"That Charlie guy?" Kwest interrupted. "He was a supreme douchebag."

"Wait," Spiederman said, looking at Kyle. "Riley Davis? She was like, fourteen when we were eleven."

"I was fast," Kyle shrugged, shoving an entire pancake into his mouth. "She liked that about me."

"It had nothing to do with the rumor that Olivia Patterson started that you were hung like a horse?" Wally teased. "I heard Riley was less than satisfied."

"Trust me," Kyle smirked, "she wasn't."

Jude waved her napkin. "White flag, no more sex talk at the breakfast table."

"So, party tonight," Sadie spoke up, still embarrassed that her children had taught a nine-year-old about sex, even though they were only thirteen. "And semi-casual does _not _mean jeans without holes in them," she warned the band.

"They'll be on their best behavior," Nic assured her. "Lee's coming, too, so Wally will be nearly perfect, won't you, Daddy?"

He glared at her. "Not this early, Nicola."

After everyone finished breakfast, Jude went upstairs to take a shower.

"Mom, I'm going swimming with Kwest!" Avery yelled into her room.

"Okay," Jude murmured, removing her clothes and wrapping herself in a fluffy white towel. The door opened. "Avery, you can go."

"Not Avery," Tommy told her, shutting the door behind him. "I can wait until you're done in there."

She sat down next to him on the bed. "What's up?"

"Well, I just wanted to see what you were doing," he shrugged, leaning back on his elbows.

"Right," she rolled her eyes. "You heard me say, not even ten minutes ago, that I was coming up to take a shower."

"Well, I have selective hearing," he pointed out. "Sorry."

She grinned. "Uh-huh. Well, how about I find you when I'm finished?"

"Or," he murmured, pulling her towards him, "you could that shower off for a few minutes."

"I suppose," she agreed softly, kissing him. "God, I miss this."

"Me, too," he said between kisses.

Avery, who'd left her ear plugs on Jude's dresser, opened the door, saw her mom and Tommy making out, and shut it quietly.

"What's she doing?" Nic wondered as she passed on the way to her and Spiederman's room. "Isn't she in the shower?"

"Nope," Avery shook her head. "She's uhh, playing a game."

"A game?" Nic repeated. "What game?"

"Tonsil hockey," Avery told her. "And it's hard telling who's winning."

"Ugh," Nic shuddered. "No girl ever wants to hear her forty-year-old brother is making out with anyone, even if it is the love of his life."

Avery empathetically pointed to herself. "I'm nine and had to see it! You're like, thirty."

"Aww, that's sweet," Nic smiled. "I'm thirty-four."

"Whatever," Avery shrugged. "I'm going to need intense therapy after that."

Nic patted the girl's shoulder. "Come on; I'm sure I've got ear plugs somewhere around here that our parents thought I was use and never did."

"I really should get that shower," Jude sighed a little while later. "I can't very well show up to Darius smelling and with bed head."

He eyed her. "I don't know. I kind of like it."

"Ha," she laughed sarcastically. "You have to go now."

Tommy stood up. "All right, fine. But, I make no promises that I won't surprise you again later."

"If you do, I promise not to hate you," she assured him, walking into her bathroom and closing the door.

"On a scale of one to ten, what is she?" Nic asked as soon as Tommy was out of the room. "And by the way, if you guys get married, you'll have to pay for Avery's therapy because she apparently walked in on some heavy action."

"Oh, I'm definitely going to marry her," he stated confidently. "There's no way I'm messing this up again."

"Good," she grinned. "You both deserve it."

At 6:00, everyone convened in the living room as Nic and Sadie inspected outfits.

"This itches," Avery whispered to Spiederman, toying with her white sundress. "I _hate_ dresses, for real."

"I hate wearing pants that aren't jeans," he replied, shoving his hands into the pockets of his Ben Sherman trousers. "Darius is lucky he's my boss again or I'd be wearing jeans."

"While I don't necessarily approve of your shoes," Sadie spoke to Spiederman, looking at his Converse sneakers, "I'll let them slide because you look nice otherwise."

"He has a personal stylist," Kyle joked, wearing khakis and an un-tucked white polo. "His wife."

Nic scoffed. "Like I didn't tell you what to wear, too."

"I chose my shoes!" he exclaimed, shaking one of his sandaled feet.

"That I set in the front of your closet," she shot back. "Kyle, I love you dearly, but you're as bad a dresser as the other two, so don't pretend you're not."

There was a short knock at the front door and it opened, allowing Lee to walk in, wearing a pretty lilac empire-waist dress.

"Hi," Wally greeted her, taking her hand. "You look pretty."

"Thanks," she smiled. "You look nice, too."

Tommy cleared his throat. "Is everyone ready? There are ten of us, so we'll have to take two cars."

"I'll drive my Jeep," Spiederman offered. "It would be for those unafraid to mess up their hair, though."

"Me!" Avery cried. "I'm wearing a ponytail, so I don't care."

"I'll ride with him, too," Jude said. "Short hair is easily fixed."

Nic picked up the keys to her black Lexus off the coffee table. "Avery, Jude, Kyle, and Tommy, you four ride with Spied. Everyone else, pile into my car."

Fifteen minutes later, Nic pulled up to the wrought-iron gates of the Mills estate, typed in a code, and led Spiederman up the long, tree-lined driveway to the house. Paparazzi surrounded them, hoping to snap a highly sought-after photo of Jude and Tommy, back together after fifteen years apart.

"I don't miss the stalkerazzi," Jude groaned as Tommy helped her out of Spiederman's Jeep Wrangler.

"Jude, Tommy, are you officially back together?" one yelled, shoving a camera in their faces. "And if so, Tommy, will you go back to Toronto?"

Tommy rolled his eyes from behind his Marc Jacobs aviator sunglasses. "We seriously need stricter privacy laws."

After fighting off the press, everyone got inside and made their way out to the party in the backyard, around the pool. It was filled with Darius' family, G-Major employees, both past and present, and celebrities.

"Mom," Avery breathed, tugging on Jude's gray skirt. "It's John Mayer."

"Oh, yeah, he and Darius have worked together before on charity stuff," Jude reported. "If you ask, I'm sure D would introduce you."

Avery blushed. "To John Mayer? That would be totally kick-ass."

"Av, watch your mouth around her," Jude requested. "I don't want the media getting wind that I have a potty-mouthed nine-year-old."

"Yeah, yeah," Avery murmured, hurrying off to find the music mogul for that introduction.

"Jude Harrison," Georgia Bevans, the original owner of G-Major, said as she walked up with a martini in her hand. "You look great."

Jude smiled and hugged her. "Thanks. You, too."

"Can you believe Darius is fifty?" Georgia laughed. "I never thought I'd see the day."

"No kidding," Jude nodded, glancing in Darius' direction. "Who's that woman standing on the other side of Maya?"

"His ex-wife, Kim," Georgia reported. "Apparently, she's been trying to reconnect with him for years now through Maya, but he won't have it."

"You know," Jude said, "I always thought you two would end up together. You'd sort of balance each other out, that's for sure."

Ha!" Georgia scoffed. "I'm happily married for fourteen years now to the opposite of Darius Mills." She pointed towards a group around the pool at a graying man in a nice linen suit. "Jeff Chambers. He works for Paramount." She paused and turned back to her former artist. "So, you and Tom, huh? How's that going this time around?"

"Good," Jude answered honestly. "I think this is it for us."

"That's good to hear," Georgia told her. "I always knew you guys would work things out."

EJ Li, Georgia's partner in crime, joined them, talking on her iPhone as she did. "Hi," she said distractedly to Jude. "The haircut suits you well."

"Thanks," Jude accepted. "You look nice, too."

EJ nodded and walked off, yelling at whoever was on the other end.

"She never stops working, that one," Georgia reported. "The LA branch does so well because of her, not me, that's for sure."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Jude called, grabbing Avery's arm as her daughter ran by. "There's someone I'd like you to meet." She spun the child around. "Avery, this is Georgia Bevans. She used to own G-Major before Darius bought her out and now she runs the LA branch."

Avery shook her hand. "Hi." She looked up at her mom. "Can I go now? Kyle challenged me to see who can eat the most hot wings in a minute."

"Sorry, kid, but I think Kyle has you beat," Georgia said.

Jude shook her head. "You've never seen her eat hot wings; it's like they don't even phase her. Go on."

Later that night, after Darius had opened gifts and everyone had eaten, Tommy stood with Nic, Spiederman, and Darius near the gazebo.

"Tom, I want you to know that I'm counting on you to keep Toronto where it is," Darius said sternly. "I don't want to leave New York to come clean up after you."

"You think I can't do as good as Andrews?" Tommy replied. "D, come on."

"I don't mean about the music," Darius interrupted. "Jude's my best artist and if you break her heart, her work will suffer and I'll have to take over."

Spiederman patted Tommy's back. "Don't worry, D-man, we'll be there to watch him."

"Uh-huh," Darius smirked. "That's comforting to know."

Nic took her husband's hand. "They're gonna work out, Darius, I know it."

"We'd better," Tommy muttered under his breath, reaching into his pocket to feel the little velvet box. "I've got a lot riding on this."


	21. Chapter 16

**So, this is the last official chapter. Tear, tear. I'm seriously sad to be ending it, but there's still the epilogue and it will be about a year or two from the end. I haven't decide. I do know it will be posted on April 16 for specific reasons, haha. And writing a sequel with Avery as a teenager is seeming more and more interesting, but it's not on the immediate horizon at the moment. Maybe once I finish one of the two new stories it'll happen. I want to plan it out more, anyways. I hope you all like this last post and thank you SO much for reading and reviewing and taking so well to Avery. I haven't created a such well-liked character since Nic Quincy, so I'm glad you all like her. Again, thanks so much.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

"Avery Justine, let's go, darling!" Jude yelled into Avery's room early Saturday morning. "Our flight won't wait because you can't get your t-shirt to go over your tank top just perfectly."

The door opened and Avery appeared, looking upset. "Well, they should. This is a fashion catastrophe. Where's Nic?"

"In my room!" Nic called out. "Come here, I'll style you!"

"I feel like I've been here for months," Jude sighed as she sat in the living room with Sadie. "Literally, it's been the longest week of my life."

"Well," Sadie rationalized, "a lot has happened. You fell back in love with the love of your life."

"Love is probably pushing it," Jude said. "Things are going good and I don't want to ruin it by jumping ahead, you know?"

Tommy, who'd been in the basement, heard this and stopped. He counted to twenty, took a deep breath, and opened the door. "Hey. You guys getting ready to leave?"

"We're waiting on Miss Fashion Diva," Jude explained, hoping he hadn't heard her.

"Nic?" he replied. "She's staying here for another week, then heading to LA to close up their house there. She won't be in Toronto for almost three weeks."

"Avery," Jude informed. "Something about a tank top and a t-shirt not going together right. I don't know. She's up with your sister, but I told her to hurry."

"Oh," he breathed. "Well, I forgot to tell you this, but I've got to go to New York for a few days before I come up to Toronto."

Jude's face fell. "Oh. Why?"

"Just have some things to do before I move," he shrugged. "Pack stuff up to have it shipped."

"Right," she nodded slowly.

A moment later, Avery descended the stairs with Nic, wearing a completely different outfit than she'd started in.

"You changed," Jude noticed.

"Her outfit was not good for flying," Nic reported. "A t-shirt is so inappropriate. They wrinkle and there will be photographers in both airports, waiting to see if Tommy comes with you."

"Which I'm not," Tommy filled in. "New York needs me a bit longer."

"Wait, you're not coming with us now?" Avery realized, rushing to stand in front of him. "But you are coming, right?"

He smiled down at her softly. "Yes, Avery. I'll be there by Wednesday, at the latest."

"Good," she said simply, though still eyeing him in slight disbelief. "I leave for camp on Thursday, so you can take me out to dinner Wednesday night."

"I can?" he joked, feigning excitement. "Well, I'll start planning."

"Good luck," Kwest spoke up. "She's a pickier eater than Jude."

"Well, Tyler was picky, too," Jude replied. "So she got it from both sides."

Nic saw the sadness flash through her brother's eyes at the mention of Jude's ex-husband and Avery's father, as if he'd wanted that role all along. "Umm, you guys are going to miss your flight if you don't get outta here. Don't forget to swing by and pick up James."

"I'd be a lot more sad if I weren't going to see you for a while," Jude laughed as she hugged her old band and Nic. "But, I'll see you in a couple of weeks, and probably for the rest of my life after that, so I'm not."

"You can't get rid of us twice," Kyle shrugged, punching her shoulder. "Besides, you'll have to see a lot of us if we're going to record together again."

Jude quickly looked to Tommy. "I'm recording with SME again?"

"If you want," he nodded. "That's up to you and whether you've still got it in you to rock."

"Please," Spiederman scoffed. "Jude Harrison will never lose the rock in her."

"Thank you," Jude grinned smugly. "But, he's right, I won't. I can't wait. I have so much stuff I've written over the last ten years that's been too heavy for the genre I fell into."

"We'll get to work as soon as they're settled then," Tommy stated. "Now, really, you should go." He pulled Jude into him and kissed her softly. "I'll see you soon."

"You'd better," she murmured. "Everyone else, see you in a couple of weeks. Av, let's go."

Avery waved to everyone sadly as Sadie pushed her out the door, shutting it behind her as she did.

"Tommy, since you're not the most subtle guy in the world, tell me what's going on," Nic demanded as soon as the two cabs pulled away with the Toronto-bound crew. "You're weird now and you weren't yesterday."

"Does it have anything to do with this?" Spiederman wondered, holding up the little black velvet box, showing off the brilliant cut diamond ring. "I thought your jacket from last night was mine?"

Nic gasped and a hand flew immediately to her mouth. "Dear God, you're proposing? Are you out of your damn mind?"

"You're the one who's been waxing poetic all week about not letting her go!" Tommy cried. "Now I should?"

"No!" Nic yelled. "When I said not to let her go, I meant to date for a while! I didn't mean go out and spend thousands of dollars on a ring." She grabbed it from her husband's hand. "A very nice one, though." She snapped it shut. "Tommy, you can't do that. You've been so afraid of scaring her off and this would be pretty scary for her."

"She's right," Spiederman agreed, jealous of his friends who got to escape this conversation for the basement, even though he knew he had to be involved. "Dude's still got major baggage with you, Squinty, and proposing would be a big no-no."

Tommy groaned in frustration and sank down to the sofa. "I'm a complete dumbass, aren't I?" He looked at Spiederman. "That's rhetorical."

"Fine," Spiederman rolled his eyes. "Look, Tommy, I get that you love her- who doesn't?- but you need to take things slower. She's seen that you've changed, so she's not going anywhere. It's been like, three days that you two have been together, you know? I've heard of couple getting engaged in like, two weeks, but not three days. That's crazy."

"This is weird for me," Tommy admitted. "Of all the women I've ever known and pursed, Jude's always been the _only _one complicated and independent enough to not lose her head. Even now, fifteen-year-old girls lose their heads because I've produced the latest Kanye West or Madonna song. Jude, though, practically laughs at my accomplishments."

"That's not true," Nic denied. "Dude's totally proud of what you made yourself into; we talked about it last night. She's seen that you've been so successful in the last fifteen years that she's afraid you're giving all that up for her and Avery."

"I am," Tommy confirmed, "but because I want to. People see success, but I feel emptiness. I mean, you all have been in LA, Darius has Maya and Portia and Max, so I've spent a lot of time alone in Manhattan. If giving up my prosperous career meant I got to be in Toronto with Jude and her crazy kid, I'd do it in a heartbeat."

"Then, for now, do that," Nic suggested. "Go from there."

He glanced at the box in her hand and took it. "You're right. I'll save this for a rainy day."

"About a year from now," Spiederman added. "Not tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Patience is a virtue, my friend."

"One you don't possess," Nic teased.

"I'm gonna go finish packing," Tommy told them, heading into his bedroom. "I leave tomorrow afternoon."

Spiederman stretched. "I think I'm gonna go down and play some video games. You wanna come?"

"No," she shook her head, standing up from her place on the coffee table. "I think I'm gonna call Lee, see if she's doing anything."

"Speaking of Lee," he said, opening the basement door. "What's going to happen with her and Wally?"

Nic smirked. "She's my financial advisor; she goes where I go."

"Nice," he laughed. "Have fun."

Two and a half hours later, flight 243 landed in Toronto and Avery, who'd listened to her iPod most of the way home, yawned as they exited the plane. "It's nice to be home, especially since home is about to get a lot more exciting."

"Avery, you wanna go with us to pick up Chris and Al?" Kwest offered. "See your grandpa and Yvette?"

"Sure," Avery shrugged. "Is that okay, Mom?"

"Yeah, I'll go with Jamie," Jude told her. "Go ahead."

Once they'd all gotten their luggage and separated, Jude rode in a taxi with Jamie to her townhouse.

"You nervous about him being here permanently?" Jamie asked, typing on his BlackBerry, preparing for his move to Florida.

"Yeah," she answered quietly. "The last four days were amazing, but I'm just afraid it's going to change if we're together all the time now."

He put his phone into his pocket. "Jude, we both know Quincy has never been my favorite person, but he's a different guy now. I don't think he'd be stupid enough to let you go again. He's grown up, just like we all have."

"I hope," she sighed as they pulled up to her house. "We're going to dinner on Tuesday before you leave. Me, you, Avery, Sadie, and Kwest."

"Sure," he agreed, kissing her forehead. "I'll see you Monday."

Jude let herself into her house and immediately went to her answering machine, finding she only had seven messages, probably because she'd changed her voicemail to say she'd be out of town. The first five were her parents, just reminding her to call them when she got home, but the sixth one caught her attention.

_"Jude, hey, it's Tyler,"_ her ex-husband's voice came through. _"It's Wednesday night, at about 5:40 my time, and Avery just told me you're on a date with Quincy. I know you're getting this back in Toronto, and I don't really know what's going on with you two, but be careful. I know that deep down, he's the reason you and I got divorced and I don't want to see you get hurt by him again. If I don't get to talk to Avery again before she leaves for camp, tell her I'll be in Toronto the second week of August for a conference and I'd like to spend time with her. Thanks."_

"Odd," she mumbled, erasing that message and the last one, from Spiederman, pretending to be Kurt Cobain, calling from beyond the grave, a joke he used to play when they were younger.

"Hi, Ma," Avery greeted her later that night after Kwest dropped her off. "What's up?"

"Call your dad," Jude told her. "He'll be here in August and he wants to see you."

Avery stood in front of the TV, on which Jude was watching _My Girl_. "How do you know that? Did you talk to him?"

"He left a message Wednesday night after you two talked," Jude reported. "Why didn't you tell me he called you?"

Her daughter shrugged and sat down on her lime green bean bag chair. "I didn't want to upset you. I know you hate when I talk about Dad and you and Tommy had gone on your date. He was being stupid, anyways. Sorry."

"You don't have to apologize," Jude told her softly, wrapping an arm around Avery's shoulders. "I wouldn't have been mad or upset. It's normal for a girl to talk to her dad, regardless of where he is."

"Okay," Avery breathed. "Well, Christian broke his uncle when Grandpa took his jet-skiing this morning."

"Ouch," Jude winced. "The Harrison side doesn't do well with broken limbs. Sadie broke both arms twice from the ages of eight to fourteen."

"I've heard," Avery smiled. "Mom, do you think you and Tommy will work out?"

"I hope so," Jude told her. "I know you adore him, and vice-versa, and I never realized how much I missed him until we were together again. I mean, I've always missed him, but it really intensified Sunday afternoon."

Avery grinned. "Good. He's make a great dad, whether it's for me or another baby sometime in the future."

"Oh, geez," Jude muttered. "I don't know if I could handle another kid after you."

"Please," Avery scoffed. "I'm the kid parents dream for."

Jude looked away. "Uh-huh, right."

"Mom!" Avery whined. "You love me."

"_I _do," Jude confirmed. "But to others, you might come on a little strong. You have to boundaries or barriers with the people you've grown up around, so you're more adult-like. And vulgar," she added. "And that, I worry, will only get worse with Spiederman and company around constantly."

"I cannot wait," Avery gushed excitedly. "They're like, my favorite people ever."

"They were mine once upon a time," Jude replied. "Three brothers I never had and never really wanted. I just got stuck with them."

"What do you think your life would've been like if you've have stayed with Spied?" Avery wondered.

Jude rolled her eyes. "I'm sure I'd be wild and carefree, just like he is. Nic's a nice balance for him, so we never would've worked out the way they do. She's a good influence in his life."

"I think they should have a baby," Avery decided. "A little boy."

"Tell her that," Jude smirked. "A baby is not on their agenda."

Avery eyed her mother. "They might not have a choice. When she helped me this morning, she rushed to throw up in the bathroom and she hadn't eaten breakfast, nor did she eat much at the party last night. It could be morning sickness."

"It could be a virus," Jude put in. "Nic and Spiederman are not ready for kids yet. They still have a lot they want to do."

"I'm just saying, they might not have a choice," Avery stated, turning up the volume on the movie. "Pregnancy isn't exactly predictable."

"Yours was," Jude said. "I wanted you."

"Well, duh," Avery shrugged nonchalantly. "Who freakin' wouldn't? I'm adorable."

"And so humble, too," Jude teased, closing her eyes.


	22. Epilogue

**This is it, the end. A final chapter in their lives...for now. I'm incredibly sad to be ending it here, but the more I think about it, the more I like the sound of a sequel, but it'll have to wait. I've put too much on my plate for now. Until then, I hope this will tide you over and make you happy. If it does, tell me. And most importantly, Happy Birthday GC. I worked all day on this, just for you. I hope it's fab.**

**Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue.**

_Two years later…_

"Ma, I'm tired," Avery, now eleven, whined from her seat on the couch in the G-Major lobby on a late Friday night. "How much longer are we gonna be here?"

"Go find Finn," Jude suggested, playing her acoustic, though with some difficulty, as she was eight months pregnant. "I thought I heard him driving Kwest crazy in his office a while ago."

Avery yawned. "He's sleeping on the couch in the playroom. Two-year-olds are totally useless when they sleep."

"Most people are," Jude nodded. "As far as being here, you'll have to ask Tom."

"Fine," Avery groaned, pushing herself up to go in search of her step-father. "Tommy!"

He stuck his head out of his office, that had belonged to Georgia, Darius, and Jamie in the past. "What? And be quiet, Finn's sleeping."

"Whatever," she muttered. "How much longer?"

"Thirty minutes," he promised. "And then we'll stop at McDonald's and go home."

"We have McDonald's like, every night," she pointed out. "Can't you make something for once?"

"Your mom craves it," he shrugged. "And at this point in her pregnancy, I just want to keep her happy and placid."

The adolescent rolled her eyes. "Lame."

"Hey, Av, come in here!" Spiederman yelled from studio one. "We put a new spin on your favorite song!"

She hurried to follow his voice and found him, along with Wally and Kyle, seated in the recording booth, haphazardly holding their instruments. "How can you put your own spin on 'Sheena is a Punk Rocker?' It's perfect already."

"Just listen," he advised as Kyle started to play a slowed down, mellower version of the popular Ramones song.

"Not bad," she murmured, jiggling her foot to the beat. "Not bad at all."

"Where's my kid?" Spiederman wondered when they finished. "I haven't heard any screaming or crashes in a while."

"Asleep in the playroom," Avery reported. "I put in _Robin Hood_ and he was out within minutes."

Spiederman sighed and looked at his watch. _11:30_. "I should probably head home then. Nic's in New York until Sunday afternoon, so it's just us boys all weekend."

"Yeah, Lee's at home with Sasha and she's had an ear infection since Wednesday, so I'll go, too," Wally added, setting aside his bass.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "You guys with your wives and kids."

"Not wife," Wally pointed out. "Fiancée."

"Same thing," Kyle rolled his eyes. "You're so settled down and boring."

"You never want to be married or have kids?" Avery wondered. "You're like, thirty-five now. That means you're a _grown-up._"

Spiederman laughed as he led everyone from the studio. "He's a thirty-five-year-old with the mindset of a teenager."

"Avery, you ready?" Tommy called to her. "Your mom is tired and hungry, so I'll come in a little early tomorrow."

"All right," Avery nodded. "Later, guys," she added to the band.

On the ride home, Jude sang her new song, which Avery had heard fifty times already, so she put in her iPod.

"Avery, what have we told you about listening to that in the car?" Tommy scolded. "It's rude and disconnects you from us."

"I've heard 'Back Again' a million times now," Avery told them. "I have to hear it again?"

"I've changed some stuff," Jude stated. "The beat is a little faster and the chorus has been tweaked some."

"All right," Avery caved in. "Sing it again."

When they arrived home, after their third stop at McDonald's in two days, Tommy helped Jude inside and settled her onto the couch. "You want a movie while eat?"

"Sure," she nodded. "What about _Cool Hand Luke_? You like that one."

"We watched it Monday," he reminded her. "How about _Dead Poet's Society_? That's one of your favorites."

"_Saved!_" Avery yelled, joining them from her room, having changed into her pajamas. "We haven't watched that in ages."

Tommy shrugged. "Why not?" He found the movie in their impressive library of DVDs and put it in. "Scoot over," he ordered Avery so he could sit on her other side, situating her between her parents.

"Dad called me today," she reported. "Said he and Natalie are coming out when the baby is born."

Jude nodded. "Okay. When's their wedding?"

"October 30," Avery answered. "Do I have to go? It's the day before Halloween and I promised Spied and Nic I'd take Finn."

"Avery, he's your dad," Tommy stated. "You can't _not_ go to his wedding. We'll see if we can get you a flight early the next morning."

A few minutes later, the movie started and they all quieted down.

"I am _full _of Christ's love," Avery quoted her favorite line in the film by Mandy Moore's character.

"Avery," Jude snapped. "You know I hate that."

"You do it in _That Thing You Do!_" Avery shot back. "On most lines."

"She's allowed," Tommy interjected. "She's pregnant."

"Please," Avery scoffed. "She's been doing that since I was five."

Jude rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll stop."

"Sure," Avery smirked as the phone rang. "I'll get it." She hurried to pick up the cordless. "Hello?"

"Av?" Spiederman's voice came through. "Can I drop Finn off there? Nic's already back from New York, which means something's up, so I'm going to pick her up from the airport."

Avery pulled the phone away. "Can Spied bring Finn over? Nic's back, which makes him think something is wrong, so he's going to the airport."

"Sure," Tommy agreed. "Is she okay?"

"Is she okay?" Avery relayed her step-dad's question.

"I don't know," Spiederman replied. "She sounded weird on the phone."

"Doesn't know," Avery said to her parents, who'd paused the movie. "He said she sounded funny."

"Avery," Spiederman interrupted. "We're leaving now, so I'll there in ten minutes." He hung up.

"They're on their way." Avery put the phone back on the base and sighed. "I guess I'll go make up his bed in my room."

Jude stopped the movie and stood up slowly. "What do you think is going on?"

"Girl, I stopped trying to understand my sister a long time ago," Tommy replied. "I know she was there to talk with _Vogue _about writing a monthly column for them, but I can't imagine that would take four days, so I don't know. I'm sure it's not as big of a deal as she told him."

Fifteen minutes later, Spiederman walked in, carrying a very sleepy Finn, and laid him down on the couch. "Thanks, guys. I don't know what's going on. She called, said she was back, and that I should probably pick her up." He set down Finn's bag on the coffee table. "I think it's got everything. He's potty-trained now, so he'll let you know if he has to go. Umm, he already ate dinner and if he doesn't fall asleep, put in a boyish Disney movie and that should do it." He kissed Jude's cheek and rushed out.

"I'm worried," Tommy admitted. "Should I call her?" He picked up the phone and dialed his sister's cell phone.

"Hello?" she answered calmly.

"Nic?" he said. "What's going on? Vin just dropped Finn off and said he had to pick you up cause you're home and sounded weird on the phone. I just wanted to make sure you're okay."

Nic started laughing lightly. "It worked? Ha. I'm good. I just realized this afternoon that I haven't been away from him for more than two days, and I haven't been away from Finn at all, so I wanted to come home. I guess I just wanted some time with my husband alone."

"Are you serious?" he asked dryly. "You faked worry to get him to come get you because you _miss_ him?"

"Does it not sound like something I'd do?" she replied.

Tommy rolled his eyes. "As a matter of fact, it does. He might kill you."

"Please," she scoffed. "He'll be so happy to see me, he won't."

"Good luck," Tommy offered, hanging up and setting the phone on the base. "See? She's a freakin' lunatic."

Jude smiled. "I'm just glad she's okay. Spiederman, however, might not be."

"Juju?" Finn yawned. "Where Avy?"

"Avery!" Jude called out. "Come and take Finn to watch _Lion King _or something so he falls asleep!"

Avery, who'd pulled out her trundle bed for the toddler, came to the living room. "Come on, Finny. We'll watch Simba."

"Simba!" Finn cheered, shaking his shaggy brown head. "Bye, Juju. Bye, Tommy."

Once the kids were gone, Jude and Tommy settled down to watch the rest of the movie.

"Ooh," Jude said towards the end, pushing on her stomach. "Those fries must not have gone down so well."

"Why?" he asked nervously. Since she'd reached her eighth month, he'd been on pins and needles about her going into early labor. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," she replied, breathing easily. "A little indigestion, I guess."

Five minutes later, it hit her again, but more severely.

"Jude?" Tommy said, turning off the TV. "Are you having contractions?"

Jude, who was now sweating heavily, shook her head adamantly. "There's no way. I'm only thirty-five weeks." She groaned in pain. "Ugh!"

He jumped up from the couch and began racing around, gathering the suitcase they'd packed the week before. "Avery, are you awake?" he yelled.

"I am now," Avery murmured sleepily, walking to the living room. "Whoa, Mom, are you like, in labor?"

"Like, I think so," Jude snapped, now breathing rapidly. "Get Finn ready to head to the hospital and call his parents and then call my parents and Sadie."

Five minutes later, Tommy had loaded everyone and everything into his Range Rover and sped off towards Toronto University Medical Center.

"Spied and Nic are gonna beat us there and let them know you're coming, Sadie and Kwest are leaving now, Gigi and Don are coming, and I can't get a hold of Pops and Yvette, but Sadie said she'll keep trying."

"Mommy!" Finn squealed excitedly upon seeing Nic just beyond the entrance. He wriggled his hand away from Avery and took off for his mother's outstretched arms. "Hi!"

"Hi, baby," she smiled, kissing his cheek. "I missed you."

"Miss you, too," he said. "Daddy, too."

"Daddy missed me?" Nic repeated, eyeing her husband. "How sweet."

"Yeah, sure, but could you discuss that later?" Jude demanded frantically as her husband of just over a year helped her into a wheelchair. "I'm having a baby here."

Nic and Spiederman led the way to the nurses' station.

"She's here," Spiederman told the head nurse. "Jude Harrison-Quincy."

"Right," the nurse nodded. "Right this way, Mrs. Harrison-Quincy." She pushed a swinging door back and ushered Jude and Tommy through. "Until we have her settled, everyone else will have to wait."

"No," Jude decided. "I want Avery with me."

The nurse sighed. "All right, come on."

For half an hour, the Spiederman's, Sadie and Kwest, Vic and Don, Stuart and Yvette, Kyle, and Wally and Lee sat in the waiting room, hoping to hear some news. Finally, Avery emerged, wearing scrubs.

"They just took her in," she announced. "And since I'm not fourteen, I was sent to be babysat." She sat down between Stuart and Kyle. "This sucks. Right now, my little brother is being born and I can't even be there. But, Mom totally freaked when they sent me away and that was kind of worth it."

For the next two hours, everyone sat anxiously, waiting for a nurse or doctor or Tommy to emerge, telling them that Baby Quincy had been welcomed to the world. Avery played cards with Wally, talked to her dad on the phone, and bit her fingernails down as far as possible, getting scolded by Sadie for doing so.

Suddenly, the door was pushed open and Tommy, dressed like Avery, walked out, a huge smiled plastered on his face. "Ryan Darius Quincy, six pounds, fourteen ounces. Looks just like his mom and Avery."

"Whoo!" everyone cheered happily, clapping and hollering.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Spiederman interrupted. "His middle name is 'Darius?' Uhh, why?"

Avery jumped up onto a chair to tell the answer. "Because had it not been for Darius' birthday, Mom and Tommy never would've gotten back together, and Ryan never would've been born."

"Boo," Spiederman groaned. "That's a lame story."

Tommy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I can bring four back at a time, so I'm thinking Avery, Sadie, Don, and Victoria should probably come first."

"We have to wait?" Nic whined. "Come _on_, Thomas." She waved a finger between her and Spiederman. "We're family."

The new, and exhausted, father sighed and looked around. "If you're quiet, you can sneak back in groups, about three at a time. Room 347." He took the first four and led them down the hallway.

Jude, worn out and a mess, was sitting up in her standard hospital bed, holding her new baby in her arms, unable to wipe the smile off of her face.

"Mom!" Avery cried, shoving past Tommy to hurry and hug her mom and little brother simultaneously. "He's so little."

"You were smaller," Sadie reported quietly. "Barely even six pounds."

"Can I hold him?" Avery asked. "I'll be real careful. I only half-dropped Finn once."

Jude carefully laid Ryan in Avery's arms and sighed. "My two babies."

"Mom," Avery whined. "I'm eleven and so not a baby anymore."

Stuart wrapped an arm around her slender shoulders. "I don't really think you ever were."

Twenty minutes later, everyone had successfully convened in Jude's room, chatting about and cooing over the newest edition to the G-Major family.

"I miss babies," Nic admitted. "Finn's getting so big now."

"Not a chance," Spiederman interrupted her. "You promised we could wait until I was forty before we brought up kids again."

"Yeah, but I don't want my kids to be as far apart as Tommy and I were," Nic replied. "I want them to be best friends."

Spiederman, who'd rarely ever been able to tell his wife no, shook his head. "We'll discuss it later."

"Thank you," she beamed, kissing his cheek. "A girl would be nice. To dress-up and teach about makeup and boys and clothes."

"Until then, you've got Avery," Wally pointed out. "She's still impressionable."

"Another thing I'm not sure she ever was," Stuart spoke up, though Wally didn't understand.

Kwest, who was taking his turn to hold his new nephew, scoffed lightly. "He really is a beautiful baby."

"You say that like you're shocked," Avery spoke up. "Come on, look at me. How could he be anything other than absolutely gorgeous?"

"On second thought," Nic began, "maybe another boy wouldn't be so bad."


End file.
